:»'-' 




^ 7 




6.0< 







THREE YEARS 



CALIFORNIA. 



REV. WALTER COLTON, U. S. N. 

LATE ALCALDE OF MONTEREY ; AUTHOR OF " DECK AND PORT," 
ETC, ETC. 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 



NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY A. S. BARNE^ CO. 

NO. 51 JOHN-STREET. 

CINCINNATI:— H. W. DERBY & CO. 

185L 



» v:> 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year Eighteen Himdred and fifty, 

By a. S. BARNES & COMPANY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Coiul; of the United States for the Southern 
District of New York. 



5yTranaf« 



Stereotyped bt 

EICHARD C. VALENTINE, 

New York. 

F. C. GUTIERREZ, Printer, 
No. 51 John-street, corner of Dutch 



TO 



GEN. MAEIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO, 



ONE OF CALIFORNIA S DISTINGUISHED SONS, 



IN WHOM 



THE INTERESTS OF FREEDOM, HUMANITY, AND EDUCATION 



HAVE FOUND AN ABLE ADVOCATE AND MUNIFICENT BENEFACTOR, 



®l)*i0 t)oltime 



IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 

BY HIS FRIEND 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



Many events of moment occurred in California during my 
residence of three years in that country, and which were sketched 
in a journal kept by me at the time. They are interspersed with 
anecdotes and incidents of a less general concern, but which 
may not be without some interest with the reader, as affording a 
clue to the leading features of society, and traits of individual 
character. The circle of engaging objects in a community^ just 
emerging into the refinements of civilization, is never broad; 
but every phase in the great change going on possesses an in- 
tense individuality, and leaves its ineffaceable impression, like a 
ship sweeping a solitary sea, or a bird scaling a sunset cloud. 
California will be no more what she has been : the events of a 
few years have carried her through the progressive changes of a 
century. She has sprung at once from the shackles of colonial 
servitude to all the advantages and dignities of a sovereign 
state. 

Her emigrants are rushing from every continent and isle ; they 
crest every mountain, they cover every sea ; they sweep in like 
a cloud from the Pacific, they roll down like a torrent from the 
slopes of the Sierra Nevada. They crowd to her bosom to 
gather gold ; their hammers and drills, their mattocks and spades 
divert the deep stream, and are echoed from a thousand caverned 
Mils ; the level plain, the soaring cliff and wombed mountain, 
give up theii- glowing treasures. But the gifts of nature here 
are not confined to her sparkling sands and veined rocks, they 
extend to the productive forces of her soil ; they lie along her 
water-courses, through her verdant valleys, and wave in her 
golden grain ; they reel in her vintage, they blush in her fruits, 
while her soft zephyrs, as they float the landscape, scatter per- 
fume from their odorous wings. 

But with all these gifts disease is here with its pale victims, 
and sorrow with its willow-wove shrine. There is no land less 

1* 



6 PREFACE. 

relieved by the smiles and soothing cares of woman. If Eden 
with its ambrosial fruits and guiltless joys was still sad till the 
voice of woman mingled with its melodies, California, with all 
her treasured hills and streams, must be cheerless till she feels 
the presence of the same enchantress. It is woman alone that 
can make a home for the human heart, and evoke from the re- 
cesses of nature the bright and beautiful : where her footsteps 
light, the freshest flowers spring ; where her voice swells, the 
softest echoes wake : her smiles garland the domestic hearth ; 
her sympathy melts through the deepest folds of grief; her love 
clothes the earth with light. When night invests the heaven, 
when the soft pleiads in their storm-rocked cradle sleep, and the 
sentinel stars on their watch-towers wane dim, her vigil flame 
still pours its faithful beam, still struggles with the encroaching 
darkness till the day-spring and the shadows flee away. Of all 
these sources of solace and hope multitudes in California are 
now bereft ; but the ties of kindred, the quick- winged ship, and 
the steed of flame, on his iron-paved track, vdll soon secure them 
these priceless gifts. The miner, returning from his toil, will yet 
half forget the labors of the day in the greetings of his home : 

" At length his lonely cot appears in view, 

Beneath the shelter of an aged tree ; 
Th' expectant wee thi-ngs, toddlin', stacher thro' 

To meet their dad, wi' flichterin noise an' glee. 
His wee bit ingle, blinkin' bonnily. 

His clean heai-th-stane, his thriftie wifie's smile. 
The lisping infant prattling on his knee, 

Does a' his weary carking cares beguile, 
An' makes him quite forget his labor an' his toil." 

Philadelphia, July, 1850. W. C. 



CONTENTS 



Page 
CHAPTER I.— The flag.— Meeting of citizens.— Disposition of forces— Col. 
Fremont's band. — Alcalde of Monterey. — Indian mother. — Military leaders. — 
A California fai'm 13 

CHAPTER II.— Fecundity of the Califomians.— First intelligence of the war.— 
Wild Indians on board ship.— The chief.— First newspaper published in Cali- 
fornia.— Raising the materials.— The rival suitors.— Flight of Gen. Castro.— 
A Californian on horseback 27 

CHAPTER III. — A thief obeying orders. — Game. — No penitentiary system. — 
The California cart on a gala-day.— The runaway daughter.— Faith of the In- 
dians. — Return from the war. — First trial by jury. — Indian and his squaw on 
the hunt. — Whales in the bay. — The two gamblere. — Ladies on horseback. — 
Merriment in death. — The Englishman and his mistress 39 

CHAPTER IV.— Funeral ceremonies.— Elected alcalde.— Flight of Gen. Cas- 
tro. — Los Angeles taken. — Oven-bath.— Grog in a chimney. — The flea. — First 
rain. — Rising of the Califomians. — Measures of Com. Stockton. — Mormons . .54 

CHAPTER V. — Fire on the mountains. — Emigrants. — Pistols and pillows. — 
Leaders of the insurrection. — California plough. — Defeat at San Pedro. — Col. 
Fremont's band. — The Malek Adhel. — Monterey threatened. — Soldier out- 
witted.— Raising men.— Bridegroom.— Culprits 72 

CHAPTER VI.— Santa Barbara taken.— Lieut. Talbot and his ten.— Gambling 
in prison. — Recruits. — A funny culprit. — Movements of Com. Stockton. — 
Beauty and the grave.— Battle on the Salinas.— The captain's daughter. — 
Stolen pistols. — Indian behind a tree. — Nuptials in California 89 

CHAPTER VII.— San Jos6 garrisoned.— A California rain.— Escape of convicts. 
—Shooting Edwards.— Two washerwomen.— Death of Mr. Sargent.— Indian 
hens.— Hunting curlew.— The California horse. — An old emigrant.- The 
grizzly bear 106 

CHAPTER VIII.— Little Adelaida.— Col. Fremont's battalion.— Santiago in love. 
—Sentiments of an old Californian.— The prize Julia.— Fandango.— Winter 
climate — Patron Saint of California. — Habits of the natives. — Insurrection 
in the north. — Drama in a church.— Position of Com. Stockton 121 



8 CONTENTS. 

Page 
CHAPTER IX.— Day of the Santos Innocentes.— Letting off a lake.— Arrival 
of the Dale with home letters.— The dead year.— Newly-arrived emigrants.— 
Egg-breaking festivities.— Concealment of Chaves.— Plot to captui-e the al- 
calde 134 

CHAPTER X. — Destruction of dogs.— The wash-tub mail.— The smrender in 
the north.— Robbing the Californians.— Death-scene in a shanty.— The men 
who took up arms.— Arrival of the Independence.— Destitution of our troops. 
— Captm-e of los Angeles 149 

CHAPTER XI.— Arrival of the Lexington.— The march to los Angeles, and 
battle of San Gabriel.— The capitulation.— Military characteristics of the Cali- 
fornians.— Barricades down 163 

CHAPTER XII.— Return of T. O. Larkin.— The tall partner in the Californian. 
— Mexican officers.- The Cyane.— War mementoes.— Drama of Adam and 
Eve.— Carnival.— Birth-day of Washington. — A California captain.— Appli- 
cation for a divorce.— Arrival of the Columbus 173 

CHAPTER XIII.— The people of Monterey.— The guitar and runaway wife.— 
Mother ordered to flog her son.— Work of the prisoners.— Catching sailors. 
—Court of Admiralty.— Gamblers caught and fined.- Lifting land bounda- 
ries 189 

CHAPTER XIV. — A convict who would not work. — Lawyers at Monterey. — 
Who conquered California. — Ride to a rancho. — Leopaldo. — Pai-ty of Cali- 
fornians. — A dash into the forests. — Chasing a deer. — Killing a bear. — Ladies 
with firearms.— A mother and volunteer 199 

CHAPTER XV.— A California pic-nic— Seventy and seventeen in the dance. — 
Children in the grove.— A California bear-hunt.— The bear and bull bated. 
— The Russian's cabbage head 210 

CHAPTER XVI.— A Californian jealous of his wife.— Hospitality of the na- 
tives. — Honors to Guadalupe. — Application from a Lothario for a divorce. — 
Capture of Mazatlan. — Larceny of Canton shawls. — An emigrant's wife 
claiming to have taken the country.— A wild bullock in Main-street 220 

CHAPTER XVII.— Rains in California.— Functions of the alcalde of Monterey. 
—Orphans in California.— Shp of the gallows rope.— Making a father whip 
his boy.— A convict as prison cook.— The kuacka.— Thom. Cole.— A man 
robbing himself.— A blacksmith outwitted 230 

CHAPTER XVIII.— First discovery of gold.— Prison guard.— Incredulity about 
the gold.— Santiago getting married.— Another lump of gold.— Effects of the 
gold fever.— The court of an alcalde.— Mosquitoes as constables.-- -Bob and 
his bag of gold.— Return of citizens from the mines.— A man with the gpld 
cholic— The mines on individual credit. .*. . 242 

CHAPTER XIX.— Tour to the gold-mines.— Loss of horses.— First night in the 
woods.— Arrival at San Juan.— Under way.— Camping out.— Bark of the ' 



CONTENTS. 9 

Page 
wolves.— Watch-fires.— San Jos6.— A fresh start.— Camping on the slope of 
a hill. — Wild featm-es of the counti-y. — Valley of the San Joaquin. — Band of 
wild horses 257 

CHAPTER XX. — The gi-ave of a gold-hunter. — Mountain spurs.— A company 
of Sonoranians. — A night alarm. — First view of the mines. — Character of 
the deposits. — A woman and her pan. — Removal to other mines. — Wild In- 
dians and their weapons. — Cost of provisions. — A plunge into a gold river. — 
Machines used by the gold-diggers 269 

CHAPTER XXI. — Lump of gold lost.— Indians at their game of arrows. — 
Camp of the gold-hunters.— A Sonoranian gold-digger.— Sabbath in the 
mines. — The giant Welchman. — Natm'e of gold deposits. — Average per man. 
— New xliscoveries 282 

CHAPTER XXII.— Visit to the Sonoranian camp.— Festivities and gambling. 
— The doctor and teamster. — An alcalde turned cook. — The miner's tattoo. — 
The little Dutchman. — New deposits discovered. — A woman keeping a 
mont6 table. — Up to the knee and nine-pence. — The volcanoes and gold. — 
Arrival of a barrel of rum 295 

CHAPTER XXIU. — Natural amphitheatre. — No scientific clue to the deposits 
of gold.— Soil of the mines.— Life among the gold-diggers.— Loss of our 
caballada.— The old man and rock.— Depai-ture from the mines.— Travelling 
among gorges and pinnacles.— Instincts of the mule.— A mountain cabin — 309 

CHAPTER XXIV.— A lady in the mountains.— Town of Stockton.— Crossing 
the valley of the San Joaquin.— The robbed father and boy.— Ride to San 
Jos6. — Rum in California. — Highwayman. — Woodland life. — Rachel at the 
well.— Farewell to my camping-tree 324 

CHAPTER XXV.— Cause of sickness in the mines.— The quicksilver mines. — 
Heat and cold in the mines.— Traits in the Spanish character. — Health of 
California ladies. — A word to mothers.— The pingrass and blackbird.— The 
Redwood-tree.— Battle of the eggs 339 

CHAPTER XXVI.— The public domain.— Sceneiy around Monterey.— Vine- 
yards of los Angeles.— Beauty of San Diego.— The culprit hall.— The rush 
for gold.— Land titles.— The Indian doctress.— Tufted pai-tridge.- Death of 
Com. Biddle 351 

CHAPTER XXVII.— The gold region.— Its locaUty, nature, and extent.— For- 
eigners in the mines. — The Indians' discovery of gold. — Agilcultural capa- 
bilities of California.- Services of United States officers. — First decisive 
movement for the organization of a civil government.— Intelligence of the 
death of Gen. Kearny 365 

CHAPTER XXVin.— Ride of Col. Fremont from los Angeles to Monterey and 
back. — Chai-acter of the country. — The rincon. — Skeletons of dead horses.^ 
A stampede. — Gray bears. — The retixrn. — The two horses rode by Col. Fre- 
mont.— An experiment.— The result.— Characteristics of the California horse. 



10 CONTENTS. 

Page 
—Fossil remains.— The two classes of emigrants.— Life in California.— Heads 
against tails 377 

CHAPTER XXIX.— The tragedy at San Miguel.— Court and culprits.— Age 
and circumstances of those who should come to California.— Condition of the 
professions.— The wrongs of California.— Claims on the Christian communi- 
ty.— Journalists 391 

CHAPTER XXX.— The gold-bearing quartz.— Then- locality.— Richness and 
extent.— The suitable machinery to be used in the mountains.— The court of 
admiralty at Monterey.— Its organization and jmisdiction.— The cases deter- 
mined.— Sale of the prizes.— Convention and Constitution of California.— 
Difficulties and compromises. — Spirit of the instrument 403 

CHAPTER XXXI.— Glances at towns sprung and springing.— San Francisco. 
— Benicia. — Sacramento City. — Sutter. — Vernon.— Boston. — Stockton. — New 
York.— Alvezo.— Stanislaus.— Sonora. — Crescent City.— Trioidad 414 

CHAPTER XXXII.— Brief notices of persons, whose portraits embellish this 
volume, and who are prominently connected with California affairs 425 

CHAPTER XXXIII.— The mission establishments in California.— Their origin, 
objects, localities, lands, revenues, overthrow. — California Railroad 439 



LIST OF PORTRAITS 



V Captain John A. Sutter. 
v^Thomas 0. Larkin, Esq. 

VHoN. J. C. Fremont. 
v'HoN. Wm. M. Gwin. 

V Hon. G. W. Wright. 

v^ Jacob R. Snyder, Esq. 



11 



A LIST 

OF THE DELEGATES IN CONVENTION- 
ASSEMBLED AT MONTEREY, UPPER CALIFORNIA, SEPTEMBER 
AND OCTOBER, A. D. 1849. 



NAMES. 


WHERE BORN. 


RESIDENCE. 


AGE. 


Robert Semple. 


Kentucky. 


Benicia. 


i 
Forty-two. 


John A. Sutter. 


Switzerland. 


New Helvetia. 


Forty-seven. 


Thomas O. Larkin. 


Massachusetts. 


Monterey. 


Forty-seven. 


M. G. Vallejo. 


California. 


Sonoma. 


Forty-two. 


Wm. M. Gwin. 


Tennessee. 


San Francisco. 


Forty-four. 


H. VV. Halleck. 


New York. 


Monterey. 


Thirty-two. 


Wm. M. Steuart. 


Maryland. 


San Francisco. 


Forty-nine. 


Joseph Hobson. 


Do. 


Do. 


Thirty-nine 


Thos. L. Vermeule. 


New Jersey. 


Loetown. 


Thirty-five. 


O. M. Wozencraft. 


Ohio. 


San Joaquin. 


Thirty-four. 


B. F. Moore. 


Florida. 


Do. 


Twenty-nine. 


Wm. E. Shannon. 


New York. 


Sacramento. 


Twenty-seven. 


Winfield S. Sherwood. 


Do. 


Do. 


Thirty-two. 


Elam Brown. 


Do. 


San Jos6. 


Fifty-two. 


Joseph Aram. 


Do. 


Do. 


Thirty-nine. 


J. D. Hoppe. 


Maryland. 


Do. 


Tiiirty-five. 


Jno. McDougal. 


Ohio. 


Sutter. 


Thirty-two. 


Elisha 0. Crosby. 


Tompkins Co., N. Y. 


Vernon. 


Thirty-four. 


K. H. Dimmick. 


New York. 


Pueblo San Jos6. 


Thirty-four. 


Julian Hanks. 


Connecticut. 


Do. 


Thirty-seven. 


M. M. McCarver. 


Kentucky. 


Sacramento City. 


Forty-two. 


Francis J. Lippitt. 
Rodman M. Price. 


Rhode Island. 


San Francisco. 


Thirty-seven. 


New York. 


Do. 


Thirty. 


Lewis Dent. 


Missouri. 


Monterey. 


Twenty-si.Y. 


llenrv Hill. 


Virginia. 


Do. 


Thirty-three. 


Ch. t . Botts. 


Do. 


Do. 


Forty. 


Myron Norton. 


Vermont. 


San Francisco. 


Twenty-seven. 


J. M. Jones. 


Kentucky. 


San Joaquin. 


Twenty-five. 


P. Sainsevain. 


Bordeaux. 


San Jose. 


Trente ans. 


Jos6 M. Covarrubias. 


France. 


Santa Barbara. 


Forty-one. 


Antonio Ma. Pico. 


California. 


San Jose. 


Forty. 


Jacinto Rodrif,'uez. 


Do. 


Monterey. 


Thirty-suf. 


Stephen C. Foster. 


Maine. 


Los Angeles. 


Twenty-eight. 


Henry A. Teft't. 


New York. 


San Luis Obispo. 


Twenty-six. 


J. M. H. HoUingsworth. 


Maryland. 


San Joaquin 


Twenty-five. 


Abel Stearns. 


Massachusetts. 


Los Angeles. 


Fifty-one. 


Hugh Reid. 


Scotland. 


San Gabriel. 


Thirty-eight. 


Bern. S. Lippincott. 


New York. 


San Joaquin. 


Thirty-four. 


Joel P. Walker. 


Virginia. 


Sonoma. 


Fifty-two. 


Jacob R. Snyder. 


Pennsylvania. 


Sacramento City. 


Thirty-four. 


L. W. Hastings. 


Mt. Vernon, Ohio. 


Sacramento. 


Thirty. 


Pablo de la Guerra. 


California. 


Santa Barbara. 


Thirty. ; 


Jos6 Ant°. Carrillo. 


Do. 


Angeles. 


Fifty-tliree. I 


Mani Dominguez. 


Do. 


Do. 


Forty-six. 


P. Ord. 


Maryland. 


Monterey. 


Thirty-three. 


Edw. Gilbert. 


NeW York. 


San Francisco. 


Twenty-seven. 


Miguel de Pedrorena. 


Spain. 


San Diego. 


Forty-one. 


A. J. Ellis. 


New York. 


San Francisco. 


Thirty-three. 







A.^W .QH^. vvx. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FLAG. — MEETING OF CITIZENS. — DISPOSITION OF FORCES. — COL. FRE- 

MONT's band. ALCALDE OF MONTEREY. INDIAN MOTHER. MILITARY 

LEADERS. A CALIFORNIA FARM. 

A FEW words will place within the clear compre- 
hension of the reader, the posture of public affairs in 
California at the time my journal opens. The U. 
S. flag was raised at Monterey and San Francisco 
on the 10th of July, 1846. This event was wholly 
unexpected by the Californians, and struck the pub- 
lic heart with the deepest surprise ; other causes of 
alarm and apprehension faded into shadow in the 
presence of this decisive measure ; they were the ad- 
monitory vibrations, but here was the earthquake it- 
self. The people were more astounded than indig- 
nant, and quite as intent over problems of preserva- 
tion as measures of resistance. 

At a public meeting held at Monterey, in which 
the patriotism, talents, and sagacity of the country 
were largely represented, the question of throwing 
the territory under the protection of England, through 

2 



X4 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the naval forces commanded by Admiral Seymour, 
who was on the coast at the time, was excitingly dis- 
cussed. But this proposition received its quietus un- 
der the successful railery of Don Raphael, of Mon- 
terey. " Our object," said this witty counsellor, " is 
to preserve our country ; but she is gone, — California 
is lost to us : and this proposal to invoke the protec- 
tion of England, is only to seek another owner. The 
redress is worthy of the market-woman : a dog had 
robbed her hamper of a leg of mutton, and she sent 
another dog more powerful after him to get it away ; 
when asked what good that would do her, she replied, 
it would be some satisfaction to see the first dog de- 
prived of the stolen leg. And so it is with us ; the 
mutton is gone, and a choice of the dog only remains : 
others may prefer the bull-dog, but I prefer the regu- 
lar hound ; he has outstripped the other in the chase, 
and so let him have the game." The convention 
broke up without adopting any decisive measures ; 
leaving each one to act as his impulses or convictions 
of duty suggested. 

The military forces of the country were at this 
time under the command of Gen. Jose Castro, an 
officer of high pretensions, but utterly deficient in 
strength and steadiness of purpose, and that capacity 
which can work out important results with slender 
and inapposite means. His followers had gathered 
to him with as little discipline, sobriety, and order, as 
would characterize a bear-hunt. Their prime im- 
pulse lay in the excitement which the camp present- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 15 

ed. It was the same thing to them whether their 
weapon was a rifle or a guitar, — whether they were 
going to a skirmish or a fandango. With six or 
eight hundred of these waltzing warriors Gen. Castro 
was now on his march into the southern department, 
with the evident purpose of taking up his position 
near the Pueblo de los Angeles. 

Such was the posture of aflfairs when Com. Stock- 
ton resolved to rest in no half-way measures. The 
wave had been set in motion and must roll on, 
or its returning force might sweep him and his tem- 
porary garrisons into the Pacific. And yet aggres- 
sive measures in the present condition of the squad- 
ron seemed to border on rashness. The Portsmouth, 
under Commander Montgomery, must be left at San 
Francisco to garrison the posts occupied by the flag ; 
the Savannah, commanded by Capt. Mervin, must 
remain here to hold Monterey ; the Warren, under 
Commander Hull, was at Mazatlan ; only the Con- 
gress, Lieut. Livingston commanding, and the Cyane, 
under Commander Du Pont, remained. With the 
crews of these, and a hundred and sixty men under 
Col. Fremont, California -Avas to be conquered - and 
held, and this too in the presence or defeat of a 
military force that had the entire resources of the 
country at their command. But a gallant purpose 
will often achieve what a questioning prudence would 
relinquish. The mountain torrent, with its impetu- 
osity, sweeps away the barrier which efiectually ob- 
structs the level stream. 



16 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Monday, July 27. The bustle of preparation is 
active in the squadron. Commander Du Pont re- 
ceived orders last evening to have the Cyane ready 
for sea in twenty-four hours. She has tripped this 
afternoon, and is off for San Diego, though it has been 
given out on shore that she is bound elsewhere, but 
this is a war stratagem. She has on board Col. 
Fremont and a hundred and fifty of his riflemen. 
The wind is fresh, and they are by this time cleverly 
sea-sick, and lying about the deck in a spirit of resig- 
nation that would satisfy the non-resistant principles 
of a Quaker. Two or three resolute old women 
might tumble the whole of them into the sea. But 
they will rally before they reach their port, and see 
that their rifles spring true to their trust. 

The colonel is a man of small stature, of slender 
but wiry formation, and with a countenance indica- 
tive of decision and firmness. This is the fifth time 
he has crossed the continent in connection with his 
scientific purposes. His enterprises are full of hard- 
ship, peril, and the wildest romance. To sleep under 
the open heaven, and depend on one's rifle for food, 
is coming about as near the primitive state of the 
hunter as a civilized man can well get ; and yet this 
life, in his case, is adorned with the triumphs of sci- 
ence. The colonel and his band are to land at San 
Diego, secure horses, and advance upon the position 
of Gen. Castro, at los Angeles. 

" War's great events lie so in Fortune's scale, 
That oft a feather's weight may kick the beam." 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 17 

Tuesday, July 28. Com. Stockton informed me 
to-day that I had been appointed Alcalde of Mon- 
terey and its jurisdiction. I had dreamed in the 
com'se of. my life, as most people have, of the thou- 
sand things I might become, but it never entered my 
visions that I should succeed to the dignity of a 
Spanish alcalde. I much preferred my berth on 
board the Congress, and that the judicial functions in 
question should continue to be discharged by the two 
intelligent gentlemen, Purser R. M. Price and Dr. 
Edward Gilchrist, upon whom they had been de- 
volved. But the services of these officers were 
deemed indispensable to the efficiency of the ships to 
which they were attached. This left me no alterna- 
tive ; my trunks were packed, my books boxed, and - 
in an hour I was on shore, a guest in the house of 
our consul, T. O. Larkin, Esq., whose munificent 
hospitalities reach every officer of the squadron, and 
every functionary in the interest of the flag. This is 
the more appreciated from the fact that there is not 
a public table or hotel in all California. High and 
low, rich and poor, are thrown together on the pri- 
vate liberality of the citizens. Though a quasi war 
exists, all the amenities and courtesies of life are pre- 
served ; your person, life, and liberty, are as sacred 
at the hearth of the Californian as they would be at 
your own fireside. He will never betray you ; the 
rights of hospitality, in his generous judgment, re- 
quire him to peril his own life in defence. of yours. 
He may fight you on the field, but in his family, you 

2* 



18 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

may dance with his daughters, and he will himself 
wake the waltzing string. 

Wednesday, July 29. The sloop-of-war Levant, 
under .Commander Page, sailed to-day, with Com. 
Sloat on board, for the United States. We gave 
the commodore a parting salute. He has render- 
ed the squadron under his command efficient, and 
preserved harmony among the officers. The expe- 
diency of his measures in California will be canvassed 
elsewhere. He acted on the light and intelligence 
within his reach. If war has been declared, the lau- 
rel awaits him. 

The Levant takes home in her my friend, Lieut. 

T : he has resigned his commission in the navy, 

and takes orders in the church. He is a pretty good 
classical scholar, and has made himself familiar with 
the principles of biblical exegesis. All this has been 
accomplished during those few leisure hours which 
the duties of a watch-officer leave one at sea. It is 
seemingly reversing the order of things for the navy 
to supply the church with spiritual teachers. But 
few, however, have left the deck for the pulpit ; a 
much larger number have reached it from the dia- 
grams and drills of West Point. Among them are 
^eome of our most eloquent and impressive preachers. 
Of this class is the present Bishop of Ohio. 

We have all been busy in writing letters home, 
and shall make up a pretty large mail, filled with ten- 
der recollections, and overflowing with the California 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 19 

news. How the intelligence of our proceedings here 
will strike our friends and the country at large, is 
mere matter of conjecture. We are acting, however, 
not only in view of the alleged collision between the 
American and Mexican forces on the Rio Grande, 
but in reference to the anarchy and confusion into 
which this country has been thrown by a revolution 
which did not originate with us. 

Thursday, July 30. To-day I entered on the du- 
ties of my office as alcalde of Monterey : my jurisdic- 
tion extends over an immense extent of territory, and 
over a most heterogeneous population. Almost every 
nation has, in some emigrant, a representative here — 
a representative of its peculiar habits, virtues, and 
vices. Here is the reckless Californian, the half-wild 
Indian, the roving trapper of the West, the lawless 
Mexican, the licentious Spaniard, the scolding Eng- 
lishman, thef absconding Frenchman, the luckless 
Irishman, the plodding German, the adventurous 
Russian, and the discontented Mormon. All have 
come here with the expectation of finding but little 
work and less law. Through this discordant mass I 
am to maintain order, punish crime, and redress in- 
juries. 

Friday, July 31. Nearly all the houses in Mon- 
terey are of one story, with a corridor. The walls 
are built of adobes, or sun-baked brick, with tiled 
roofs. The centre is occupied by a large hall, to 



20 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

which the dining-room and sleeping apartments seem 
mere appurtenances. Every thing is in subordina- 
tion to the hall, and this is designed and used for 
dancing. It has a wood floor, and springs nightly to 
the step of those who are often greeted in the whirl 
of their amusements, by the risen sun. The dance 
and a dashing horse are the two objects which over- 
power all others in interest with the Californians. 
The fiddle has been silent since our flag went up, 
from the fact that many of the gentlemen have left 
to join Gen. Castro. But if they return, though cov- 
ered with disaster, the fiddle will be called upon to 
resume its fantastic functions. You might as well 
attempt to extinguish a love of air in a life-preserver 
as the dancing propensity in this people. 

Saturday, Aug. 1. The Congress has sailed to- 
day, with all her marines and full complement ol 
men, for San Pedro. Com. Stockton intends to 
land there with a force of some three hundred, 
march to the Pueblo de los Angeles, capture that im- 
portant place, and fall upon Gen. Castro, who, it is 
now understood, has posted himself, with some eight 
hundred soldiers, in a pass a few miles below. The 
general will find his southern retreat cut off* by Col. 
Fremont's riflemen and the sailors of the Cyane, his 
western route obstructed by the Colorado, while the 
forces of the Congress will bear down upon him from 
the north. He has seemingly no escape, and must 
fight or capitulate. But his sagacity, his thorough 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 21 

knowledge of the country, and his fleet horses, may 
extricate him. We shall know in a few days ; the 
interest felt here in the result is most intense. Many 
mothers have sons and many wives husbands involved 
in the issue. 

Sunday, Aug. 2. I officiated to-day on board the 
Savannah. It is much to the credit of the officers of 
this ship that though without a chaplain, they have 
had, during a three years' cruise, their religious ser- 
vices regularly on the Sabbath. Four of their num- 
ber, two lieutenants, the surgeon, and master, are 
professors of religion, and exert a deep influence 
through their consistent piety. Their Sabbath exer- 
cise has consisted in reading prayers, selections from 
the Scriptures, and a brief, pertinent sermon. They 
have had, also, their Sabbath-school. Such facts as 
these will win for the navy a larger share of public 
confidence than the capture of forty barbaric for- 
tresses. The American people love valor, but they 
love religion also. They will confer their highest 
honors only on him who combines them both. 

Monday, Aug. 3. An Indian woman of good ap- 
pearance came to our office to-day, stating that she 
had been for two years past a domestic in a Mexican 
family near Monterey ; that she had, during this time, 
lost her husband, and now wished to marry again ; 
but wished, before she did this, to recover her child, 
which was forcibly detained in the family in which 



22 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

she had served. It appeared that the father of this 
family had baptized her child, and claimed, according 
to custom here, a sort of guardianship over it, as well 
as a right to a portion of its services. 

I asked her if her child would be kindly treated 
where it now was : she said she thought so ; but 
added, she was a mother, and wanted it with hei 
We told her as she was going to marry again, she 
had better perhaps leave the child for the present ; 
and if she found her husband to be a good, indus- 
trious man, and disposed to furnish iier with a com- 
fortable home, she might call again^ our office, and 
we would get her child. She went avray with that mild 
look of contentment which is as near a smile as any 
expression which Hghts an Indian's face. 

Tuesday, Aug. 4. The -iiiilitary chieftains, who 
have successively usurped th/government of Califor- 
nia, have arbitrarily imposed such duties on foreign 
imports as their avarice or exigency suggested. A 
few examples will be sufficient to show the spirit and 
character of these imposts. Unbleached cottons, 
which cost in the United States six cents the yard, 
cost here fifty, and shirtings cost seventy-five. Plain 
knives and forks cost ten dollars the dozen ; coarse 
cowhide shoes three dollars the pair ; the cheapest 
tea three dollars the pound ; and a pair of common 
truck-wheels seventy-five dollars. The duty alone 
on the coarsest hat, even if made of straw, is three 
dollars. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 23 

The revenues derived from these enormous imposts 
have passed into the pockets of a few individuals, 
who have placed themselves, by violence or fraud, at 
the head of the government, and have never reached 
the public in any beneficial form. These exactions, 
enforced by an irresponsible tyranny, have kept Cali- 
fornia poor, have crushed all enterprise, and have 
rolled back the tide of emigration from her soil as the 
resisting rock the rushing stream. But the barriers 
are now broken, and broken forever. California is 
free, — free of Mexican rule and all domestic usurpers. 

Wednesday, Aug. 5. We have in one apartment 
of our prison two Californians, confined for having 
robbed a United States courier, on his way from 
Monterey to San Francisco, with public dispatches. 
They have not yet been tried. Yesterday they ap- 
•pHed to me for permission to have their guitars. 
They stated that their situation was very lonely, and 
they wanted something to cheer it. Their request 
was complied with ; and last evening, when the 
streets were still, and the soft moonlight melted 
through the grates of their prison, their music 
streamed out upon the quiet air with wonderful 
sweetness and power. Their voices were in rich 
harmony with their instruments, and their melodies 
had a wild and melancholy tone. They were sing- 
ing, for aught they knew, their own requiem. 

Thursday, Aug. 6. It sounds strange to an Ameri- 



24 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

can, and much more so to an Englishman, to hear Cah- 
fornians talk of farms. They never speak of acres, 
or even miles ; they deal only in leagues. A farm of 
four or five leagues is considered quite small. It is not 
so large, in the conception of this people, as was the 
one^acre farm of Horace in the estimation of the Ro- 
mans. Capt. Sutter's farm, in the valley of the Sac- 
ramento, is sixty miles long. The Californians speak 
in the same way of the stock on their farms. Two 
thousand horses, fifteen thousand head of cattle, and 
twenty thousand sheep, are only what a thrifty farmer 
should have before he thinks of killing or selling. 
They are to be his productive stock, on which he 
should not encroach, except in an emergency. Only 
fancy a farm covering sixty miles in length ! Why, 
a man would want a railroad through it for his own 
private use. Get out of the way, ye landlords of 
England and patroons of Amsterdam, with your bor- 
oughs and dykes, and give place to the Cahfornian 
with his sixty mile sweep ! 

Friday, Aug. 7. The Mormon ship Brooklyn, 
which we left at Honolulu, has arrived at San Fran- 
cisco, and her passengers have debarked on the 
shores of that magnificent bay. They have not yet 
selected their lands. The natives hold them in great 
horror. They seem to think cannibahsm among the 
least of their enormities. They consider the term 
Mormon the most branding epithet that can be ap- 
pHed to a man. A mother complained to me, a few 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 25 

days since, that a gentleman in Monterey had struck 
her son and called him a Mormon. She dwelt with 
great earnestness on the opprobrious character of the 
epithet, and appeared to consider its application to 
her son a higher crime than that of his fist. I told 
her what sort of people these Mormons were ; but it 
was to her as if I had represented Satan as an angel 
of light. I lectured the wrong-doer. 

Saturday, Aug. 8. Capt. Fauntleroy, of the Sa- 
vannah, and Maj. Snyder, with fifty mounted men 
under their command, occupy San Juan, which lies 
inland about thirty miles from Monterey. A report 
reached them a few days since, that a hundred Avild 
Indians had descended upon the town of San Jose 
and driven off over two hundred horses. They 
started immediately with twenty men, well mounted, 
got upon their trail, and came up with them at a dis- 
tance of sixty miles. The Indians finding themselves 
hotly pressed, left their horses and took to the bush, 
throwing back upon their pursuers the most wild and 
frantic imprecations. Three or four of their number 
only were killed. The denseness of the forest and 
the approach of night rendered further pursuit im- 
practicable. 

The horses were all recaptured and brought back 
to their owners, who received them with acclama- 
tions of surprise and gratitude. This was the first 
time, they said, that their property had been rescued 
from savages by the government, and they run up the 



26 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

American flag. This prompt interference of Capt. 
Fauntleroy and Maj. Snyder will do more to win the 
confidence of the Californians than forty orations de- 
livered in the most hquid Spanish that ever rolled 
from a Castilian tongue. There is something in 
action which the most simple can appreciate, and 
which the most crafty cannot gainsay. 




Sunday, Aug. 9. I officiated to-day on board the 
Savannah. The weather was pleasant, and several 
gentlemen from the shore attended. There was no 
service in the Roman Catholic Church, owing to the 
absence of one of the priests and the infirmities of the 
other. But when there is service, only a few of the 
people attend. It is sometimes, however, forced upon 
them in the shape of penance. When a friend of 
mine here was married, it was necessary that he 
should confess. The penance imposed on him for his 
previous negligences and transgressions was, that he 
should attend church seven Sabbaths. 



27 



CHAPTER II. 

FECUNDITY OF THE CALIFORXIAXS. FIRST INTELLIGENCE OF THE WAR. 

WILD INDIANS ON BOARD SHIP. THE CHIEF. FIRST NEWSPAPER PUB- 
LISHED IN CALIFORNIA. RAISING THE MATERIALS. THE RIVAL SUITORS. 

— FLIGHT OF GEN. CASTRO. A CALIFORNIAN ON HORSEBACK. 

Monday, Aug. 10. The fecundity of the Cahfor- 
iiians is remarkable, and must be attributed in no 
small degree to the effects of the climate. It is no 
uncommon sight to find from fourteen to eighteen 
children at the same table, with their mother at their 
head. There is a lady of some note in Monterey, 
who is the mother of twenty-tw^iving children. 
The youngest is at the breast, an(«iust soon, it is 
said, relinquish his place to a new-U^'^^er, who will, 
in all probability, be allowed only the same brevity of 
bliss. '^ 

There is a lady in the department below who has 
twenty-eight children, all living, in fine health, and 
who may share the "envied kiss" with others yet 
to come. What a family — what a wife — what a 
mother! I have more respect for the shadow of that 
woman than for the living presence of the mincing 
being who raises a whole village if she has one child, 
and then puts it to death with sugar-plums. A 
woman with one child is like a hen with one chicken ; 
there is an eternal scratch about nothing. 



28 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Tuesday, Aug. 11. A deserter from Gen. Castro's 
camp presented himself at my office to-day and gave 
himself up to the American authorities. He repre- 
sents the general as in rather a forlorn condition. 
His troops, it appears, are daily deserting him. His 
present force is estimated at less than six hundred. 
He is anxious to fly into Mexico, but is unable to 
raise a sufficient number of volunteers. The ex- 
pectation here is, that he will surrender to Com. 
Stockton. 

The British brig-of-war Spy anchored in the harbor 
of Monterey this evening. She is from San Bias, 
with dispatches for Admiral Seymour. Her officers 
are perfectly silent as to news from the United States 
and Mexico. St^ leaves in a few hours for the Col- 
lingwood at th« Sandwich Islands. She has, un- 
doubtedly, news, of moment, but will not reveal it. 



Wednesday, Aug. 12. The U. S. ship Warren, 
under Commander Hull, arrived this afternoon in 
thirty days from Mazatlan, bringing the eventful in- 
telligence that war had been declared between the 
United States and Mexico. The mysterious silence of 
the officers of the Spy is now explained. But their 
secrecy has availed them for only twenty-four hours. 

The war news produced a profound sensation here. 
The whole population were instantly thrown into 
groups in the corridors and at the corners of the 
streets. The hum of voices continued late into the 
night. It was an extinguisher on the hopes of those 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 29 

who had looked to Mexico for aid, or who had clung 
to the expectation that the American government 
would repudiate our possession of California,, and 
order the squadron withdrawn. They now relinquish 
all idea of a return to their old political connection, and 
appear resigned to their fate, which seems inevitable. 
These disappointed families compose but a part of the 
population ; another portion has become thoroughly 
wearied with revolutions, and are prepared to counte- 
nance almost any government that promises stability. 

Thursday, Aug. 13. The Warren sailed this 
morning for San Pedro, to convey the war intelli- 
gence to Com. Stockton. It will throw a new aspect 
upon his operations in California. Expediency gives 
place to moral necessity. We have now a double 
motive for exertion — national honor, which looks at 
home, and an enlarged philanthropy, which looks 
here. It is of but little moment what the ultimate 
action of our government may be in reference to 
California. It cannot change her destiny. She is 
severed forever from Mexico. Should our govern- 
ment attempt to throw her back on that country, she 
will not stay thrown back. The rebound will carry 
her further off than ever. She is on a wave which 
will not ebb till this generation have mouldered in 
their graves. 

Friday, Aug. 14. Sixty of a tribe of wild Indians, 
who live in the mountains, about two hundred miles 

3* 



30 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

distant, made a descent a few days since upon a farm 
within thirty miles of Monterey, and carried off a 
hmidred horses. Twenty of the tribe, with the chief, 
remained behind to secm'e fm^ther booty. Intelli- 
gence of this having reached Capt. Mervin, he dis- 
patched a mounted force, apprehended them in their 
ambush, and brought them to Monterey, and delivered 
them over to our court for trial. 

They were as wild a looking set of fellows as ever 
entered a civil tribunal. The chief was over seven 
feet high, with an enormous blanket wrapped round 
him and thrown over the shoulder like a Spanish 
cloak, which set forth his towering form to the best 
advantage. His long black hair streamed in dark- 
ness down to his waist. H^s features strikingly 
resembled those of Gen. Jackson. His forehead was 
high, his eye full of fire, and his mouth betrayed great 
decision. His step was firm ; his age must have been 
about fifty. He entered the court with a civil but 
undaunted air. When asked why he permitted the 
men of his tribe to steal horses, he replied that the 
men who took the horses were not properly members 
of his tribe, that they had recently attached them- 
selves to him, and now, that he had found them 
horse-thieves, he should cut them. I could get at no 
satisfactory evidence that he, or the twenty with him, 
had actively assisted those who took off the horses. I 
delivered them over to Capt. Mervin, who commanded 
the military occupation of the town. 

The United States troops were formed into a hollow 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 31 

square, and they were marched into the centre where 
they expected to be shot, and still not a muscle shook, 
and the features of each were as set as if chiselled from 
marble. What must have been their unbetrayed sur- 
prise, when Capt. Mervin told them they were ac- 
quitted by the tribunal ! He then told the chief he 
should recognize him as king of the tribe — that he 
must not permit any of his men to commit the slight- 
est depredations on the citizens, that he should hold 
him responsible for the conduct of his tribe, and that 
he must come and report himself and the condition of 
his tribe every two moons. To all this the chief fully 
assented. 

They were then taken on board the frigate, where 
the crew had been mustered for the occasion. Here 
they were told how many ships, men, and guns we 
had at our command ; so much to inspire them with 
awe : and now for their good will. The whole party 
were rigged out with fresh blankets, and red handker- 
chiefs for each, which they use as a turban. The 
chief was attired in a uniform of one of our tallest 
and stoutest officers : navy buttons, epauletts, sword, 
cap with a gold band, boots, and spurs ; and a silver 
chain was put about his neck, to which a medal was 
attached, recognizing him as the high chief of the 
tribe. He looked every inch a chief. The band 
struck up Hail Columbia, and they departed, vowing 
eternal allegiance to the Americans. The sailors 
were delighted with these savages, and half envied 
them their wild life. 



32 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Saturday, Aug. 15. To-day the first newspaper 
ever published in CaUfornia made its appearance. 
The honor, if such it be, of writing its Prospectus, 
fell to me. It is to be issued on every Saturday, and 
s published by Semple and Colton. Little did I 
Xhink when relinquishing the editorship of the North 
American in Philadelphia, that my next feat in this 
line would be off here in California. My partner is 
an emigrant from Kentucky, who stands six feet eight 
in his stockings. He is in a buckskin dress, a fox- 
skin cap ; is true with his rifle, ready with his pen, 
and quick at the type-case. 

He created the materials of our office out of the 
chaos of a small concern, which had been used by a 
Roman Catholic monk in printing a few sectarian 
tracts. The press was old enough to be preserved 
as a curiosity ; the mice had burrowed in the balls ; 
there were no rules, no leads, and the types were 
rusty and all in pi. It was only by scouring that the 
letters could be made to show their faces. A sheet 
or two of tin were procured, and these, with a jack- 
knife, were cut into rules and leads. Luckily \ve 
found, with the press, the greater part of a keg of ink ; 
and now came the main scratch for paper. None 
could be found, except what is used to envelop the 
tobacco of the cigar smoked here by the natives. A 
coaster had a small supply of this on board, which we 
procured. It is in sheets a little larger than the 
common-sized foolscap. And this is the size of our 
first paper, which we have christened the Californian. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 33 

Though small in dimensions, our first number is as 
full of news as a black-walnut is of meat. We have 
received by couriers, during the w^eek, intelligence 
from all the important military posts through the ter- 
ritory. Very little of this has transpired ; it reaches 
the public for the first time through our sheet. We 
have, also, the declaration of war between the United 
States and Mexico, with an abstract of the debate in 
the senate. A crowd was waiting when the first 
sheet was thrown from the press. It produced quite 
a little sensation. Never was a bank run upon 
harder ; not, however, by people with paper to get 
specie, but exactly the reverse. One-half of the 
paper is in English, the other in Spanish. The sub- 
scription for a year is five dollars ; the price of a 
single sheet is twelve and a half cents ; and is con- 
sidered cheap at that. 

Sunday, Aug. 16. A briUiant day, and no sounds 
to disturb its tranquillity save the moan of the pine- 
grove as the wind sighs through it, and the thunder 
of the breaking waves on the beach. We had divine 
service on board the Savannah, — a much more grate- 
ful occupation to me than the investigation of crimes 
in the Alcaldean court. 

Till the Americans took possession of Monterey, 
tne Sabbath was devoted to amusement. The Indians 
gave themselves up to liquor, the Mexicans and Cali- 
fornians to dancing. Whether the bottle or the fid- 
dle had the most votaries it would be difficult to say. 



34 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

But both had so many, that very few were left for the 
church. Some, however, attended mass before they 
dressed for the ball-room. But their worship and 
their waltz came so close together, that a serious 
thought had only time to dodge out of the way. 

Monday, Aug. 17. A complaint was lodged in my 
court this morning, involving the perplexities of a 
love-matter. The complainant is a Californian mo- 
ther, who has a daughter rather remarkable for her 
personal attractions. She has two rival suitors, both 
anxious to marry her, and each, of course, extremely 
jealous of the attentions of the other, and anxious to 
outdo him in the fervency and force of his own assi- 
duities. The family are consequently annoyed, and 
desire the court to interfere in some way for their re- 
pose. I issued an order tljat neither of the rival 
suitors should enter the house of the complainant, 
unless invited by her, till the girl had made up her 
mind which she would marry ; for it appeared she 
was very much perplexed, being equally pleased with 
both : and now, I suppose, roses and all the other si- 
lent tokens of affection will pass plenty as protesta- 
tions before. 

" The course of true love never did run smooth." 

Tuesday, Aug. 18. The ado made to reach tha 
hand of the undecided girl shows how very rare such 
specimens of beauty .are in these parts. She has 
nothing to recommend her as a sober, industrious, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 35 

frugal housekeeper. She knows how to dance, to 
play on the guitar and sing, and that is all. She 
would be as much lost in the kitchen as a dolphin on 
dry land. She would do to dress flowers in the bal- 
cony of a millionaire, but as the wife of a Californian, 
her children would go without a stocking, and her 
husband without a shirt. Her two suitors own, prob- 
ably, the apparel which they have on and the gay 
horses which they ride, but neither of them has a real 
in his pocket. Yet they are quite ready to be mar- 
ried : just as if the honey-moon had a horn of plenty 
instead of a little urn of soft light, which gushes for a 
few brief nights, and then leaves its devotee like one 
of the foolish virgins, whose lamp had gone out ! 

Wednesday, Aug. 19. Several of Gen. Castro's 
officers have just arrived in town, delivered them- 
selves up, and been put upon parole. They state that 
the general's camp, near the Pueblo de los Angeles, 
broke up a few days since in the night ; that the gen- 
eral and Gov. Pico had started for Sonora with fifty 
men and two hundred horses ; that their flight was 
hastened by the approach of Com. Stockton, with the 
forces of the Congress, on the north, and Maj. Fre- 
mont, with his riflemen, on the south. The commo- 
dai'e had reached, it appears, wathin a few hours' 
march of his camp. The general had taken the pre- 
caution to send forward in advance a portion of his 
horses, to serve as fresh relays on his arrival. He ex- 
pects to leave Col. Fremont on the right, and will be 



36 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

obliged to cross an immense sandy plain, lying be- 
tween the Pueblo and Red River, where his horses 
will be for two days without water or food. He is to 
cross Red River, a broad and rapid stream, on a raft, 
the construction of which will detain him a day ; his 
horses will swim, for California horses are trained to 
rush over mountain-torrents. The only hope of his 
capture lies in his detention at the river, unless Col. 
Fremont, anticipating his flight, has thrown a force 
south to intercept him. Once across the river he is 
safe ; nothing but a tornado, or a far-striking thun- 
derbolt, can overtake a Californian on horseback. 

Thursday, Aug. 20. An Indian w^as brought be- 
fore me to-day, charged with having stolen a horse. 
He was on his way, it appears, to Monterey, and 
when within thirty miles, his own horse having given 
out, he turned him adrift, and lassoed one belonging 
to another man, which he rode in, and then set him at 
liberty as he had his own. The owner arrived soon 
after, recovered his horse, and had the Indian "arrest- 
ed, who confessed the whole affair, and only plead in 
excuse that his own horse had become too tired to go 
further. I sentenced the Indian to three months' la- 
bor on the public works. He seemed at first very 
much surprised at what he considered the severity of 
the sentence ; but said he should work his time out 
faithfully, and give me no further trouble. As he 
was half-naked, I ordered him comfortable apparel, 
and then delivered him over to Capt. Mervin, to be 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 37 

employed in excavating a trench around the newly- 
erected fort. 

Friday, Aug. 21. A Californian is most at home 
in his saddle ; there he has some claims to originality, 
if not in character then in costume. His hat, with 
its conical crown and broad rim, throws back the 
sun's rays from its dark, glazed surface. It is fast- 
ened on by a band which passes under his chin, and 
rests on a red handkerchief, which turbans his head, 
from beneath which his black locks flow out upon the 
wind. 

The collar of his linen rolls over that of his blue 
spencer, which is open under the chin, is fitted close- 
ly to his waist, and often ornamented with double 
rows of buttons and silk braid. His trowsers, which 
are fastened around his loins by a red sash, are open 
to the knee, to which his buckskin leggins ascend 
over his white cotton drawers. His buckskin shoes 
are armed with heavy spurs, which have a shaft some 
ten inches long, at the end of which is a roller, which 
bristles out into six points, three inches long, against 
which steel plates rattle with a quick, sharp sound. 

His feet rest in stirrups of wood, carved from the 
solid oak, and which are extremely strong and heavy. 
His saddle rises high fore and aft, and is broadly 
skirted with leather, which is stamped into figures, 
through the interstices of which red and green silk 
flash out with gay eflfect. The reins of his bridle are* 
thick and narrow, and the headstall is profusely orna- 

4 



38 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

mented with silver plate. His horse, with his long 
flowing mane, arching neck, broad chest, full flanks, 
and slender legs, is full of fire. He seldom trots, and 
will gallop all day without seeming to be weary. On 
his back is the Caiifornian's home. Leave him this 
home, and you may have the rest of the world. 

Saturday, Aug. 22. Our little paper, the Califor- 
nian, made its appearance again to-day. Many sub- 
scribers have sent in their names since our last, and 
all have paid in advance. It is not larger than a sheet 
of foolscap ; but this foolscap parallel stops, I hope, 
with the shape. Be this as it may, its appearance is 
looked for with as much interest as was the arrival of 
the mail by the New Yorkers and Bostonians.in those 
days when a moon waxed and waned over its transit. 

Sunday, Aug. 23. Officiated to-day on board the 
Savannah. There is no Protestant church here. 
Emigrants have generally become Roman Catholics. 
Policy, rather than persuasion or conviction, sug- 
gested it. Men who make no pretensions to religion, 
have nothing to give up in the shape of creeds or 
conscientious scruples. They are like driftwood, 
which runs into the eddy which is the strongest ; or 
like migratory birds, which light where they can find 
the bes't picking and the softest repose. The wood- 
pecker never taps an undecayed tree ; and a world- 
ling seldom embraces a thoroughly sound faith. 



39 



CHAPTER III. 

A THIEF OBEYING ORDERS. — GAME. — NO PENITENTIARY SYSTEM. — ^THE 

CALIFORNIA CART ON A GALA-DAY. THE RUNAWAY DAUGHTER. — FAITH 

OF THE INDIANS. RETURN FROM THE WAR. FIRST TRIAL BY JURY. 

INDIAN AND HIS SQUAW ON THE HUNT. WHALES IN THE BAY. THE TWO 

GAMBLERS. LADIES ON HORSEBACK. MERRIMENT IN DEATH. THE 

ENGLISHMAN AND HIS MISTRESS. 

Monday, Aug. 24. One of our officers, bound 
with dispatches to San Juan, fell in with an Indian 
to-day, on a horse, without saddle or bridle, save a 
lasso ; and knowing from this circumstance that he 
had stolen the animal, ordered him to come to Mon- 
terey and deliver himself up to the alcalde, and then 
passed on. So on the Indian came with the horse, 
and presented himself at our office. 

I asked him what he wanted ; he told me the order 
he had received ; but I could not at first comprehend 
its import, and inquired of him if he knew why the 
order had been given him. He replied, that it was 
in consequence of his having taken the horse of an- 
other man. I asked him if he had stolen the animal ; 
he said yes, he had taken him, but had brought him in 
here and given himself up as ordered ; that he could 
not escape, as the Americans were all over California. 
I told him stealing a horse was a crime, and sentenced 
him to three months' labor on the public works. He 
was half naked. I ordered him comfortable clothes. 



40 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

and gave him a plug of tobacco, and in an hour he 
was at his task, chewing and cheerful. He is not 
wanting in intelligence ; and if he only had as much 
respect for the rights of property as he has for mili- 
tary orders, he might be a useful member of the com- 
munity. 

Oats in California grow wild. The last crop plants 
the next, without the aid of man. The yield is suffi- 
cient to repay the labors of the husbandman, but is 
gratuitously thrown at his feet. But the fecundity 
of nature here is not confined to the vegetable king- 
dom, it is characteristic of the animals that sport in 
wild life over these hills and valleys. A sheep has 
two lambs a year ; and if twins, four : and one litter 
of pigs follows another so fast that the squeelers and 
grunters are often confounded. 

Wednesday, Aug. 26. The Californians breakfast 
at eight, dine at twelve, take tea at four, supper at 
eight, and then go to bed — unless there is a fandango. 
The supper is the most substantial meal of the three, 
and would visit anybody but a Californian with the 
nightmare. But their constant exercise in the open 
air and on horseback, gives them the digestion of the 
ostrich. 

The only meat consumed here to any extent is 
beef. It is beef for breakfast, beef for dinner, and 
beef for supper. A pig is quite a rarity ; and as for 
chickens, they are reserved for the sick. The woods 
are full of partridges and hare ; the streams and la- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 41 

goons are covered with ducks and wild geese ; and the 
harbor abounds with the most dehcious fish. But no 
CaHfornian will angle or hunt, while he has a horse 
or saddle left. And as for the Indians, but very few 
of them have any hunting gear beyond the bow and 
arrow ; with these they can kill the deer and elk, but 
a partridge and hare are too shy and too quick. They 
spear a large salmon which frequents Carmel river, 
three miles distant, and bring it in to market. This 
fish is often three feet long, extremely fat, and of a 
flavor that takes from Lent half the merit of its absti- 
nence. Spearing them is high sport for the Indian, 
and is another feature in California life. 

Thursday, Aug. 27. Nothing puzzles me so much 
as the absence of a penitentiary system. There are 
no work-houses here ; no buildings adapted to the 
purpose ; no tools, and no trades. The custom has 
been to fine Spaniards, and whip Indians. The dis- 
crimination is unjust, and the punishments ill suited 
to the ends proposed. I have substituted labor ; and 
have now eight Indians, three Californians, and one 
Englishman at work making adobes. They have all 
been sentenced for steahng horses or bullocks. I 
have given them their task : each is to make fifty 
adobes a day, and for all over this they are paid. 
They make seventy-five, and for the additional twen- 
ty-five each gets as many cents. This is paid to 
them every Saturday night, and they are allowed to 
get with it any thing but rum. They are comfort- 

4* 



42 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ably lodged and fed by the government. I have 
appointed one of their number captain. They work 
in the field ; require no other guard ; not one of them 
has attempted to run away. 

Friday, Aug. 28. The ox-cart of the Californian 
is quite unique and primitive. The wheels are cut 
transversely from the butt-end of a tree, and have 
holes through the centre for a huge wood axle. The 
tongue is a long, heavy beam, and the yoke resting 
on the necks of the oxen, is lashed to their horns, 
close down to the root ; from these they draw, in- 
stead of the chest, as with us ; and they draw enor- 
mous loads, but the animals are large and powerful. 

But to return to the cart. On gala days it is swept 
out, and covered with mats ; a deep body is put on, 
which is arched with hoop-poles, and over these a 
pair of sheets are extended for a covering. Into this 
the ladies are tumbled, when three or four yoke of 
oxen, with as many Indian drivers, and ten times as 
many dogs, start ahead. The hallooing of the dri- 
vers, the barking of the dogs, and the loud laughter 
of the girls make a common chorus. The quail takes 
to the covert as the roaring establishment comes on, 
and even the owl suspends his melancholy note. 
What has his sad tone to do amid such noise and 
mirth ? It is like the piping cry of an infant amid 
the revelry and tumult of the carnival. 

Saturday, Aug. 29. Four Californians — a girl, her 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 43 

father, mother, and lover, all well clad and good-look- 
ing — presented themselves before me to-day. The 
old man said he had come to reclaim his daughter, 
who had run away with the young Mexican, — that he 
had no objection to his marrying her, but this run- 
ning away with her didn't look decent. The rash 
lover stated in his defence that he was ready to 
marry her, had run away with her for that purpose, 
had placed her immediately with his sister, and that 
she was still as chaste and pure as the driven snow. 
To all this the father and mother assented. 

I now expected we should have a wedding at once, 
and that I might be called upon to officiate. But to 
my utter surprise, on asking the girl if she insisted on 
marrying her lover, she declined. She said her es- 
cape with him was a wild freak ; she had now got 
over it, and wished to return with her father. This 
fell like a death-knell on the ears of her lover, who 
again protested his affection and her purity. Having 
been once myself a disappointed suitor,J>had a fel- 
low feeling for him, and advised the girl to marry 
him ; but she said no, that she had changed her mind : 
so I delivered her to her father, and told my brother 
in misfortune he must wait ; that a woman who had 
changed her mind once on such a subject, would 
chano-e it ao;ain. 

Sunday, Aug. 30. Several gentlemen and ladies 
of Monterey were present to-day at our service on 
board the Savannah. I have it in contemplation to 



44 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

establish a service on shore. There are plenty of 
halls, which are now used for dancing, and I should 
have as little scruple in converting one of them into 
a church, as Father Whitfield had in appropriating 
to his use the popular airs of the day, when he said 
he had no notion of letting the devil run away 
with all the fine tunes. Blessings on the memory 
of that devoted missionary ! He has embalmed in 
his church melodies that will live when the profane 
lyres from which they flowed have long since been 
silent. 

The wild Indians here have a vague belief in the 
soul's immortaUty, They say, "as the moon dieth 
and Cometh to life again, so man, though he die, will 
again live." But their future state is material ; the 
wicked are to be bitten by serpents, scorched by 
lightning, and plunged down cataracts ; while the 
good are to hunt their game with bows that never 
lose their vigor, with arrows that never miss their 
aim, and#in forests where the crystal streams roll 
over golden sands. Immortal youth is to be the por- 
tion of each ; and age, and pain, and death, are to be 
known no more. 

Monday, Aug. 31. I am at last forced into a 
systematic arrangement of my time ; without it, I 
could never get through with my duties. I rise with 
the sun, read till eight o'clock, and then breakfast •, 
at nine, enter on my duties as alcalde, which confine 
me till three, p. m., then dine ; and at four take my 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 45 

gua and plunge into the woods for exercise and par- 
tridges ; return at sunset, take tea, and in the 
evening write up my journal, and an editorial for the 
Californian. 

When the Sabbath comes, I preach ; my sermons 
are composed in the woods, in the court-room, or in 
bed, just where I can snatch a half-hour. I often 
plan them while some plaintiff is spinning a long 
yarn about things and matters in general, or some 
defendant is losing himself in a labyrinth of apolo- 
getic circumstances. By this forbearance both are 
greatly relieved ; one disburdens himself of his 
grievances, the other lightens his guilt, and, in the 
mean time, my sermon develops itself into a more 
tangible arrangement. My text might often be — 
" And he fell among thieves." 

Tuesday, Sept. 1. It is singular how the Cal- 
ifornians reckon distances. They will speak of a 
place as only a short gallop off, when it is fifty or a 
hundred miles distant. They think nothing of riding 
a hundred and forty miles in a day, and breaking 
down three or four horses in doing it, and following 
this up by the week. They subsist almost exclu- 
sively on meat, and when travelling, sleep under the 
open sky. They drive their ox-carts, loaded with 
lumber or provisions, two hundred miles to market. 
Their conceptions seem to annihilate space. 

Wednesday, Sept. 2. The officers of Gen. Castro 



46 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

have been permitted to return to their homes, after 
having taken an oath that they v^ill not, on pain of 
death, be found in arms against the United States 
during the existence of the present war. A few, 
perhaps from national pride, refused at first the oath, 
but were compelled to take it, or be treated as pris- 
oners of war. They of course preferred the former. 
The ladies don't seem to care much about these nice 
points in military etiquette : they want their hus- 
bands at home ; and their return, though on parole, 
is the signal for getting up a ball. A Californian 
would hardly pause in a dance for an earthquake, and 
would be pretty sure to renew it, even before its vi- 
brations had ceased. At a wedding they dance for 
three days and nights, during which time the new- 
married couple are kept on their feet. No compas- 
sion is shown them, as they have so much bliss in 
reserve. 

Thursday, Sept. 3. Dispatches were received 
this morning, by courier, from Com. Stockton, dated 
at the Pueblo de los Angeles. They contain his 
second address to the people of California, which de- 
fines the new attitude in which the country is placed 
by the declaration of war between the United States 
and Mexico. The address is humane in its tone, 
expansive and vigorous in its spirit. It has had the 
salutary effect to set the community at rest, by es- 
tablishing in the minds of the wavering the full con- 
viction that California is henceforth a part of the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 47 

United States. Ex-Gov. Pio Pico, it seems, did not 
escape with Gen. Castro, but has surrendered to the 
commodore. He is one of the few who commanded 
the confidence and respect of the pubHc. 

Friday, Sept. 4. I empannelled to-day the first 
jury ever summoned in California. The plaintiff and 
defendant are among the principal citizens of the 
country. The case was one involving property on 
the one side, and integrity of character on the other. 
Its merits had been pretty widely discussed, and had 
called forth an unusual interest. One-third of the 
jury were Mexicans, one-third Californians, and the 
other third Americans. This mixture may have 
the better answered the ends of justice, but I was 
apprehensive at one time it would embarrass the 
proceedings ; for the plaintiff spoke in English, the 
defendant in French, the jury, save the Americans, 
Spanish, and the witnesses all the languages known 
to California. But through the silent attention which 
prevailed, the tact of Mr. Hartnell, who acted as in- 
terpreter, and the absence of young lawyers, we got 
along very well. 

The examination of the witnesses lasted five or six 
hours ; I then gave the case to the jury, stating the 
questions of fact upon which they were to render 
their verdict. They retired for an hour, and then 
returned, when the foreman handed in their verdict, 
which was clear and explicit, though the case itself 
was rather complicated. To this verdict, both parties 



48 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

bowed without a word of dissent. The inhabitants 
who witnessed the trial, said it was what they Hked — 
that there could be no bribery in it — that the opinion 
of twelve honest men should set the case forever at 
rest. And so it did, though neither party completely 
triumphed in the issue. One recovered his property, 
which had been taken from him by mistake, the 
other his character, which had been slandered by 
design. If there is any thing on earth besides re- 
ligion for which I would die, it is the right of trial 
by jury. 

Saturday, Sept. 5. I encountered on my hunting 
excursion to-day a wild Indian, with a squaw and 
papoose. They were on horses, he carrying his bow, 
with a large quiver of arrows hung at his side, and 
she with the child in the bunt of her blanket, at the 
back. They were dashing ahead in the wake of their 
dogs, which were in hot chase of a deer. The squaw 
stuck to her fleet animal as firmly as the saddle in 
v/hich she sat, and took but httle heed of the bogs 
and gullies over which she bounded. His glance 
was directed to a ridge of rocks, over which he 
seemed to expect the deer to fly from the field of 
wild oats through which the chase lay. I watched 
them till they disappeared in their whirlwind speed 
over the ridge. Whether the deer fell into their 
hands or escaped, I know not ; but certainly I would 
not hazard my neck as they did theirs for all the 
game even in the California forests. But this, to 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 49 

them, is life ; they seek no repose between the cradle 
and the grave. 

Sunday, Sept. 6. The bell of the Roman Catholic 
church, which has been silent some weeks, rung out 
loud and clear this morning. I directed the prisoners, 
sentenced to the public works, to be taken to the ser- 
vice. I had given them soap, and sufficient time to 
clean their clothes, on Saturday ; though having but 
one suit, they had only their blankets for covering 
while these were washing and drying. With a ma- 
rine at their head, armed and equipped, they made 
quite a respectable appearance. Their conduct, du- 
ring service, was reported to me as very becoming. 
They may yet reform, and shape their lives after the 
precepts of morality and religion. My own service 
was on board the Savannah, where we had the offi- 
cers of the Erie. 

Monday, Sept. 7. We have been looking for a 
whale-ship, or spouter, as she is called by our sailors, 
to come in here, and take care of the whales which 
are blowing around us. One belonging to the gen- 
uine old Nantucket line, came to anchor last evening. 
She had been on the northwest coast in pursuit of 
the black whale ; but found them so wild, owing to 
the havoc that has been made among them, that she 
captured but very few. 

This morning her boats were lowered, and their 
crews put off in pursuit of one of these monsters. 

5 



50 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

The fellow plunged as they approached, and was out 
of sight for some minutes, when he hove up at a dis- 
tance. " There she blows !" was the cry, and off 
they darted again ; but by the time they had gained 
the spot another plunge was heard, and only a deep 
foaming eddy remained. The next time she lifted 
they were more successful, and lodged one of their 
harpoons. The reel was soon out, and away the boat 
flew, like a little car attached to a locomotive. But 
the harpoon at last slipped its hold, and the whale 
escaped. The loss seemed proportionate to the bulk 
of the monster. 

Tuesday, Sept. 8. We have had for the last five 
days hardly an hour of sunshine, owing to the dense 
fogs which prevail here at this season. These murky 
vapors fill the whole atmosphere ; you seem to walk 
in them alone, like one threading a mighty forest. 
A transcendentalist might easily conceive himself a 
ghost, wandering among the cypresses of a dead 
world. But, being no ghost or transcendentalist, I 
had a fire kindled, and found refuge from the fog in 
its cheerful light and warmth. 

Wednesday, Sept. 9. A Californian came into 
my court in great haste last evening, and complained 
that another Californian was running away with his 
oxen. Suspecting the affair had some connection 
with a gambhng transaction, I immediately handed 
nim a warrant for the arrest of the fugitive, when off 



THKEE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 51 

he started at the top of his speed to execute it. In 
less than an hour he returned with his prisoner. 

I then asked the plaintiff if the oxen were his ; he 
said they were. I asked him of whom he obtained 
them ; he said of the man who attempted to run 
away with them. I asked him what he gave for 
them ; this was a puzzler, but after hemming and 
hawing for a minute, he said he had played for them, 
and won them. I asked him what else he had won 
of the man ; he replied, the poncho, and a thin jacket, 
both of which he had on. I then ordered them both 
into the calaboose for the night. The winner, who 
had apprehended the other, and who, no doubt, ex- 
pected to get the oxen at once, looked quite con- 
founded. 

This morning I had the two gamblers before me : 
neither of them looked as if he had relished much his 
prison-couch. I made the winner return all his ill- 
gotten gains, oxen, poncho, and jacket, and then fined 
them each five dollars. The one w^ho had served the 
warrant shrugged his shoulders, as if he had made 
a great mistake. There was no escape from the 
judgment, so they paid their fine and departed. The 
next time they gamble, they will probably settle 
matters between themselves, without a resort to the 
alcalde. 

Thursday, Sept. 10. My alcalde duties required 
me to-day to preside at the executive sale of two 
dwelling-houses and a store. I was about as au fait 



52 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

at the business as Dr. Johnson at the auction of 
widow Thrales' brewery, when he informed the bid- 
ders, in his towering language, that he offered them, 
not a few idle vats and worms, but the " potentiality 
of becoming rich." The property sold well, forty 
per cent, higher than it would under the Mexican 
flag. All real estate has risen since our occupation 
of the territory. This tells what the community 
expects, in terms which none can mistake. A Cali- 
fornian told me to-day that he considered his lands 
worth forty thousand dollars more than they were 
before our flag was hoisted. The old office-holders 
may, perhaps, grumble at the change, but they whose 
interest lies in the soil silently exult. They desire 
no ebb in the present tide of political affairs. 

Friday, Sept. 11. An express came in to-day, 
bringing the intelligence that a thousand Wallawalla 
Indians had reached the Sacramento from Oregon. 
They have come, as the express states, to avenge the 
death of a young chief, who was wantonly and wick- 
edly killed about a year since, by an American emi- 
grant. They belong to a tribe remarkable for their 
intelligence, hardihood, and valor. Their occupation 
is that of trappers, and they are thoroughly used to 
fire-arms. Capt. Mervin has sent a force from the 
Savannah, and Capt. Montgomery another from the 
Portsmouth, to arrest their progress. Capt. Ford, 
with his company of California rangers, who under- 
stand the bush-fight, will also be on the spot. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 53 

Saturday, Sept. 12. My partner in the "Cali- 
fornian" has been absent several weeks. All the 
work of the office has devolved upon a sailor, who 
has set the type for the whole paper, with fingers stiff 
as the ropes around which they have coiled them- 
selves into seeming fixtures. Yet the " Californian" 
is out, and makes a good appearance. Who would 
think, except in these uttermost ends of the earth, of 
issuing a weekly journal, with only an old tar to set 
the type, and without a soHtary exchange paper ! By 
good fortune, a hunter brought along a copy of the 
" Oregon Spectator ;" it was quite a windfall, though 
the only intelligence it contained from the United 
States, was that brought its editor by some overland 
emigrant. The "Spectator" speaks of the institu- 
tions of the "City of Oregon" with as much reverence 
as if they had the antiquity of the Egyptian Pyra- 
mids ; when there is scarce a crow's nest which does 
not date further back. But age is no certain evi- 
dence of merit, since folly runs to seed as fast as 
wisdom. 

5* 



CHAPTER IV. 

FUNERAL CEREMONIES. — ELECTED ALCALDE. FLIGHT OF GEN. CASTRO. 

LOS ANGELES TAKEN. OVEN-BATH. GROG IN A CHIMNEY. THE FLEA. 

FIRST RAIN. RISING OF THE CALIFORNIANS . MEASURES OF COM. STOCK- 
TON. — MORMONS. 

Sunday, Sept. 13. Officiated to-day on board the 
Savannah, and called on my way to see a sick child, 
whose mother seems at a loss whether to grieve or 
rejoice in prospect of its death. If it dies, she says it 
will at once become a little angel : if it lives, it will 
be subject to sorrow and sin. She desires, for her 
sake, that it may live ; but, for its own, that it may 
die. This balancing between life and death, is com- 
mon here among mothers. Their full persuasion of 
an infant's future bliss, forbids that they should mourn 
its loss. They therefore put on no weeds, and utter 
no lamentations. The child, when its pure spirit has 
fled, is dressed in white, and stainless roses are strewn 
upon its little shroud. It is borne to the grave as if 
it were to be laid at the open portal of heaven, and 
few are the tears which fall on that threshold of im- 
mortal bliss. 

Monday, Sept. 14. A letter from the Sacramento, 
received to-day, informs me of the arrival of two 
thousand emigrants from the United States. They 
are under the guidance of experienced men, and have 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 55 

be-en but a little over four months on the way. The 
Mormons are selecting the site of their city, which 
they intend shall be the paradise of the west. 

Tuesday, Sept. 15. The citizens of Monterey elect- 
ed me to-day alcalde, or chief magistrate of this juris- 
diction — a situation which I have been filling for two 
months past, under a military commission. It has 
now been restored to its civil character and func- 
tions. Their election is undoubtedly the highest 
compliment which they can confer ; but this token of 
confidence brings with it a great deal of labor anc": 
responsibility. It devolves upon me duties similar tu 
those of mayor of one of our cities, without any of those 
judicial aids which he enjoys. It involves every 
breach of the peace, every case of crime, every busi- 
ness obligation, and every disputed land-title within i, 
space of three hundred miles. From every other al- 
calde's couvt in this jurisdiction there is an appeal t< 
this, and none from this to any higher tribunal. Such 
an absolute disposal of questions affecting property 
and personal liberty, never ought to be confided to 
one man. There is not a judge on any bench in 
England or the United States, whose power is so ab- 
solute as that of the alcalde of Monterey. 

Wednesday, Sept. 16. The Congress, bearing the 
broad pennant of Com. Stockton, returned last even- 
ing from her trip to the south. She has captured, 
during her absence, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, and 



56 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the Pueblo de los Angeles. Over these the American 
flag is now flying. 

Gen. Castro had taken up his position just outside 
the Pueblo, on an elevation v\^hich commands the 
town and adjacent country. He was well supplied 
with field-pieces, and had a' force of seven hundred 
men. Com. Stockton landed at San Pedro with three 
hundred seamen and marines from the Congress, and 
marched against him. His route, which extended 
some thirty miles, lay through several narrow passes, 
which Gen. Castro might easily have defended against 
a much superior force. But the general kept in his 
entrenched camp ; and informed the commodore by 
a courier, that if he marched upon the town he would 
find it the grave of his men. " Then," said the com- 
modore, *'' tell the general to have the bells ready to 
toll in the morning at eight o'clock, as I shall be there 
at that time." He was there ; but Castro, in the 
mean time, had broken up his camp, mounted with 
an armed band, and fled towards Sonora, in Mexico. 
The town was taken, the American flag hoisted and 
cheered. 

Thursday, Sept. 17. The U. S. ship Cyane, undei 
Commander Du Pont, proceeded from this port to 
San Diego, took that important place, and landed 
Col. Fremont, with his riflemen, who hastened to cut 
off" the retreat of Castro. He would have done it 
could he have anticipated his route ; but to overtake 
him was impossible, as the general had taken the pre- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 57 

caution to send on in advance relays of fresh horses, 
sufficient to take him and his band beyond the reach 
of any pursuit. 

Friday, Sept. 18. A bearer of dispatches from 
Commodore Stockton to our government is to leave 
to-morrow morning in the Erie, and we are all busy 
in writing letters home by him. The Erie is to take 
the dispatch-bearer to Panama, and then proceed to 
the Sandwich Islands. We have not received any 
letters from home since we sailed from Callao ; the 
year has rolled from the buds of spring into the sear 
leaf of autumn since any intelligence has reached us 
from those we love. Death may have stricken them 
into the grave, but the sad tidings is yet a melancholy 
secret. We ought to have a regular mail between 
the United States and California. We seem remark- 
ably eager to possess ourselves of foreign territory, 
and then leave the wild geese to convey all intelli- 
gence. If the land is only ours, and those at home 
can hear from it once in fifty or a hundred years, that 
will do ; a more frequent communication would be 
quite superfluous. Had we possessed Egypt in the 
days of Cheops, all information would still be con- 
sidered seasonable which should come when his pyra- 
mid had crumbled. 

Saturday, Sept. 19. I encountered to-day a com- 
pany of Californians on horseback, bound to a pic- 
nic, each with his lady love on the saddle before him. 



58 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

He, as in duty bound, rides behind, throws his feet 
forward into the stirrups, his left hand holds the reins, 
his right encircles and sustains her, and there she rides 
safe as a robin in its nest ; sprigs of evergreen, with 
wild flowers, wave in her little hat, and larger clusters 
in his ; both are gayly attired, and smiles of light and 
love kindle in their dark expressive eyes. Away they 
gallop over hill and valley, waking the wild echoes of 
the wood. One of my hunting dogs glanced at them 
for a while, and seemed so tickled, he had to plunge 
into the bushes to get rid of his mirth. 

Sunday, Sept. 20. At the invitation of Captain 
Richardson, I preached this afternoon on board the 
Brooklyn. The crew assembled in the cabin, which 
the captain had converted for the occasion into a 
chapel. None attended by compulsion, but all were 
present of their free will. The good order and re- 
spectful attention which prevailed showed the spirit 
which pervaded the ship, and conveyed a testimony 
of the wise and Christian conduct of the captain 
which none could mistake. I have never met with a 
ship where a greater degree of harmony and alacrity 
in duty were observable ; all this, too, without any re- 
sort to physical force ; such is the result of moral in- 
fluence when brought into full play. Give us more of 
this in the navy. 

Monday, Sept. 21. A Californian mother came to 
me to-day to plead her son out of prison. He had 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 59 

driven off a herd of cattle which had another owner, 
and sold them, and I had sentenced him to the public 
works for a year. She felt as a good mother must 
feel for her son, and plead for his liberation with a 
pathos that half shook my resolution. Nothing but 
an iron sense of duty kept me firm. There is some- 
thing in a mother's tears which is almost irresistible ; 
she wept and trembled, and would have kneeled, but 
I would not let her. I lifted her to her feet, and told 
her I once had a mother, and knew what her sorrows 
were. I told her I would liberate her son if I could, 
but it was impossible ; law and justice were against 
it. But if he behaved well, I would take off a few 
months from the close of the year ; and in the mean 
time she might see him as often as she desired. She 
thanked me, lingered as if she would plead again, and 
departed. What depths there are in a mother's soul ! 

Tuesday, Sept. 22. The frigate Savannah sailed 
this morning for San Francisco. She left her berth, 
where she has lain since our flag was raised here, and 
with her royals set, glided gracefully out of the bay. 
The Congress gave her three cheers as she passed, — 
still she goes with a heavy heart. The time of her 
crew is out ; they are almost half the circuit of the 
globe from their home, and have now, seemingly, as 
little prospect of reaching it as they had a year since. 
Com. Stockton went on board a few days since and 
addressed them, but even with his happy tact in in- 
spiring enthusiasm, it was difficult to arouse their 



60 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

despondency, and make them cheerful in a resignation 
to their lot. The war being against a power un- 
armed at sea, is with them a mere bubble. To chase 
or capture a privateer is a game not worth the candle. 
Were an English or French squadron in this ocean, 
n declared hostility, they would not murmur while 
a tattered sail could be set, or a shot be found in 
the locker. 

Wednesday, Sept. 23. I was waked this morning 
by sounds of merriment in the street. Day had only 
begun to gRmmer, and its beam was contending with 
the glare of rockets, flashing over the lingering shad- 
ows of night. The child which I had visited a few 
evenings since had died, and this was its attendant 
ceremony to the grave. It had become, in the ap- 
prehension of those who formed the procession, a 
little angel — and they were expressing their joy over 
the transformation. The disruption of ties which 
bound it here — its untimely blight — and the darkness 
of the grave — were all forgotten. Its little coffin 
was draped in white, and garlanded with flowers ; 
and voices of gladness, ringing out from childhood 
and youth, heralded its flight to a better world. 

Thursday, Sept. 24. An Englishman called at 
the court to-day, and desired me to issue a warrant 
for the apprehension of his mistress, who he said had 
run away and carried off* a rich shawl and diamond 
breastpin which did not belong to her. I told him, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 61 

when he entered into a crimmal compact of that 
kind with a person, he might expect just such results 
as he had experienced, — and as for a warrant, I should 
issue none, and would not if she had carried off every 
thing in his house, and him too ; for I should consider 
the community quit of two persons who could in no 
way benefit its morals. He looked not a little sur- 
prised at this decision, shrugged his shoulders, and 
departed. The first thing a foreigner does here is to 
provide himself with a horse ; the second, with *a 
mistress ; the third, with a pack of cards. These, 
with a bottle of aguardiente, are his capital for this 
world and the next. This is true of many, but not 
all ; there are some high and honorable exceptions. 

Friday, Sept. 25. The Congress left her moor- 
ings last evening, and held her course majestically 
out of the bay for San Francisco. Com. Stockton 
proposes, while there, to construct batteries which 
can command the entrance to the harbor, and afford 
protection to our merchantmen in the absence of our 
squadron. The new city will probably be located 
before his return. It is the point towards which all 
eyes are now turned. The tide of emigration is set- 
ting there with as much steadiness and strength as 
the rivers which roll into its capacious bosom. The 
day is coming when the spires of a great city will be 
mirrored in its waters. 

Saturday, Sept. 26. The Indians here are prac- 
6 



62 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORMA. 

tical Thomsonians or Hydropathists ; they sweat for 
every kind of disease. Their bath is a large ground- 
oven, to which you descend by a flight of narrow 
steps, and which has a small aperture at the top for 
the escape of the smoke. In the centre of this they 
build a fire, close the entrance, and shut themselves 
in till the temperature reaches an elevation which 
throws them into a profuse perspiration. ^ They then 
rush out and plunge themselves into a stream of cold 
water. This is repeated every day till the disease 
leaves or death comes. 

But many, without any ailment, resort to this bath 
as a luxury. They will stay in the oven till they are 
hardly able to crawl out and reach the stream. It is 
great fun for the more sturdy ones to lift out the ex- 
hausted and dash them in the flood. You hardly 
expect to see them rise again, but up they come, and 
regain the earth full of life and vigor. The reaction 
is instantaneous, and the effect, I have no doubt, in 
many cases beneficial. It, at least, gives them a good 
washing, which they \W3uld hardly get without, and 
which they too often need. The Indian also takes to 
the water to quench the flames of rum. His poor 
mortal tenement is often wrapped in such a confla- 
gration. It v»ould be a good thing if all the rum- 
drinkers could be marched once a week under the 
falls of Xiagara. 

Sunday, Sept. 27. There is no day in the week 
in which my feelings run homeward so strongly as on 



THiEE TEARS IX CALIFORNIA. 63 

the Sabbath. That day makes me feel indeed as an 
exile. A vast moral desolation spreads around me : 
only here and there a speck of verdure sprinkles the 
mighty waste. All else is bleak and barren. You 
turn your eyes to the hills where you were bom, the 
church where you were baptized, and would rush 
back to them on the steep wave of time. 

MovDAY, Sept. 28. When Monterey was taiken by 
our squadron, an order was issued by the commander- 
in-chief that all the grog-shops should be closed. The 
object of this was to prevent disorder among the pop- 
ulace and among the sailors, whose duties as a patrol 
confined them to the shore. It was ^*ith ^eat diffi- 
culty that this order could be enforced. All moder- 
ate fines failed to secure its observance. The price of 
aguardiente rose to four and five dollars the bottle, 
more than ten times its original cost : for such a pre- 
mium the shopkeeper would run the hazard of the 
penalty. 

We searched for it as for Ud treasures, but only in 
one instance found its hidinor-place. This was in a 
chimney, hanging about midway from the top. When 
discovered, the shopkeeper laughed as loudly as they 
who made the search. He was fined, not for having 
grog in his chimney, for that is a very good place for 
it, but for retailing it at his counter. An offer of four 
or five dollars from a customer never failed to bring 
down a bottle. He paid his fine of twenty-five dol- 
lars, bu^ begged hard for the hquor. I took it into 



64 THREK YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

my custvjdy, and told him to call for it when the last 
American man-of-war had left port. 

Tuesday, Sept. 29. A brother and sister of a 
Mexican family applied to me to-day for permission 
to leave their mother. On inquiring the cause of this 
singular request, they stated that their father was 
dead, and that their mother by her immoralities had 
brought sore discredit on their house. I ascertained 
from other sources the truth of their statement, and 
then gave them permission to rent another dwelling. 
They were both modest and genteel in their appear- 
ance, but jealousy of a sister's fair reputation had pre- 
vailed with the brother over filial affection. And yet 
when he spoke of his mother his eyes filled with tears. 

Wednesday, Sept. 30. An express arrived last 
night from the Pueblo below, bringing the startling 
intelligence that the populace had risen upon the 
small American force left there under command of 
Capt. Gillespie — that th% insurgents had entire pos- 
session of the town — that the Americans were closely 
besieged in their quarters, and it was doubtful if they 
would be able to hdd out. much longer. The express 
stated that he left the town under a volley of mus- 
ketry, which he narrowly escaped, but whch took 
such deadly effect on his horse, that he dropped under 
him about two leagues out. 

He had a permit from the American alcalde to 
press horses wherever found. He rode the whole 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 65 

distance — four hundred and sixty miles — in fifty- two 
hours, during which time he had not slept. His in- 
telligence w^as for Com. Stockton, and in the nature 
of the case was not committed to paper, except a few 
words over the signature of the alcalde, rolled in a 
cigar, which was fastened in his hair. But the com- 
modore had sailed for San Francisco, and it was 
necessary he should go on a hundred and forty miles 
further. He was quite exhausted ; I ordered him 
a bowl of strong coifee, which revived him, and a 
hearty supper, which he eagerly devoured. He was 
allowed to sleep three hours : in the mean time I pro- 
cured fresh horses, and penned a permit for him to 
press others when these should begin to flag. Before 
the day glimmered he was up and away. 

Thursday, Oct. 1. Com. Stockton, before the de- 
parture of the Congress, appointed T. H. Green, Esq., 
collector of customs at this port. Mr. G. is a native 
of Pennsylvania, has resided in this country several 
years, and enjoys a wide i;;gputation for business 
habits, and sterling integrity of character. Mr. Hart- 
l^^^aeW, an Englishman by birth, has been appointed i i- 
spector and translator. He is familiar with all the 
languages spoken in California, and filled the same 
office under the Mexican government to which he 
has been appointed under this. But we are gratified 
with his appointment for another reason. He has 
some twenty children of his own, and in addition to 
these, five adopted orphans. 



66 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Friday, Oct. 2. A Spaniard of some note and 
noise here, and consul of her Christian Majesty, at- 
tempted in court to-day to flourish down the claim of 
an humble Californian to whom he was indebted some 
eight hundred dollars. He said this creditor was 
once his servant, that he could neither read nor write, 
and that he felt quite indignant that he should have 
the assurance to bring him into court. I told him the 
first question was, whether he really owed the man 
the amount claimed : this being settled, we could 
very easily dispose of the belles-lettres part of the 
matter. He at first recollected nothing, except that 
the man had once been his servant , but on being 
shown the account, reluctantly admitted that it might 
be correct. I told him, if correct, and he had the 
means, he must pay it, though the creditor were fresh 
from Congo. Finding that we had in our court only 
a horizontal justice, holding its level line alike over 
kings and slaves, he signed an obligation for the pay- 
ment in six months, and gave the security required. 
So much for attempting to liquidate a debt by an 
hidalgo flourish. Law which fails to protect the 
humble, disgraces the name which it bears. 

Saturday, Oct. 3. A heavy mist hung over the 
landscape this morning till the sun was high in the 
heavens, and many began to predict rain, a phenome- 
non which I have not yet witnessed in California, 
But towards noon the mist departed like a shadow 
dissolved in light. The scorched hills Ufted theii 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 67 

naked summits, and the deep ravines revealed their 
irregular lines of lingering verdure. In these the 
cattle still graze, though the streams which once 
poured their waters through them exist now only in 
little motionless pools, hardly sufficient to drift a duck. 
A stranger looking at these hills might be excused if 
he inquired the distance to Sodom. It would never 
enter his most vagrant dreams that he had reached 
that land towards which the tide of emigration was 
rolling over the cliffs of the Rocky Mountains. 

Sunday, Oct. 4. The presiding priest of this ju- 
risdiction applied to me a few da^s since to protect 
the property of the San Antonio Mission. A Span- 
iard, it seems, who owns a neighboring rancho, had, 
under color of some authority of the late administra- 
tion, extended his claims over the grounds and build- 
ings, and was appropriating the wdiole to his private 
purposes. I summoned the Spaniard before me, and 
asked for the evidence of his right and title to the es- 
tablishment. He had no document to exhibit. His 
sole claim evidently rested in some vague permission, 
in which the linfes of moral justice were wholly omit- 
ted, or too faintly drawn to be seen. 

I therefore ordered that the mission buildings and 
grounds should be delivered back to the presiding 
priest, and that the fixtures, which had been removed, 
should at once be restored. The order was forthwith 
carried into effect. This decision is of some moment, 
as it will serve as a precedent in reference to other 



68 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

missions. These sacred domains are the patrimonial 
inheritance of the Indian, and they once embraced 
the wealth of California. But they have fallen a prey 
to state exigencies and private rapacity. They ought 
at once to be restored to their primitive objects, or 
converted into a school-fund. 

Monday, Oct. 5. A courier arrived to-day from 
San Francisco, bringing the intelligence that the Sa- 
vannah had sailed for San Pedro. They will there 
land a large force, which will march at once to the 
Pueblo de los Angeles, and, if possible, bring the in- 
surgents to an engagement. But the probability is, 
that they will instantly disband and fly to the forests. 
If they dechned battle, with Gen. Castro and his reg- 
ular troops at their head, they will undoubtedly do it 
when left to themselves, unless frantic passion has 
entirely overcome inherent fickleness. 

Tuesday, Oct. 6. The usual rate of interest for 
money loaned here on good security, is twenty-four 
per cent. This is sufficient evidence of its scarcity, 
and yet it is almost valueless when you come to the 
question of labor. A foreigner may be induced to 
work for money, but not a Calif ornian, so long as he 
has a pound of beef or a pint of beans left. Nor is it 
much better with the Indian : take from him the in- 
ducements to labor which rum and gambling present, 
and he will refuse to work for you. The blanket, 
which he wore last year, will answer for this ; his 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 69 

shirt and pants can easily be repaired ; his food is in 
every field and forest, and he seems to have as little 
scruple in taking it from the one as the other. 

Hunger is unknown here ; the man who has not a 
foot of land seems about as independent as he who 
has his ten-league farm, and has vastly less trouble 
and vexation. It is true he will now and then kill a 
bullock that is not his, but the fact that there are vast 
herds roaming about which never had an owner, 
seems, in his estimation, greatly to diminish the pri- 
vate trespass which he commits. It is with him only 
as if he had taken a pickerel from a pond instead of 
the ocean. 

Wednesday, Oct. 7. The great Mormon compa- 
ny, who came out in the Brooklyn, have had a split. 
The volcano, it seems, has been rumbling for some 
time, and has at last broke forth in flame. The ex- 
plosion will undoubtedly throw them into different 
parts of California, and defeat any attempts at a dis- 
tinct political community. The difficulty lay in the 
assumptions of the leader. He has all the ambition 
of their lost prophet, without any of his affected meek- 
ness. He attempted the iron rod, without first hav- 
ing persuaded those who were to feel its force that -it 
had been put in his hands by a higher power. 

Thursday, Oct. 8. One of the rooms in the house 
w^hich I have rented, has been occupied by some of 
the goods and chattels of the previous tenant. To- 



70 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

day they were called for, and I observed among them 
a large basket filled with egg-shells. They had been 
perforated at both ends, and their contents blown 
out. But to what use could any one put these empty 
shells ? They had been prepared, it seems, for the 
festivities of the carnival. On this occasion they 
are to be filled with scented water or tinsel, the 
apertures closed with wax, and then broken, in mer- 
riment, over the heads of guests. This liberty with 
caps and wigs is warranted only where some inti- 
macy exists between the parties. Where this is 
found, the eggs fall thick as hail. The young and 
old float in lavender and cologne. This expensive 
froUc is often indulged in by those who, perhaps, 
have hardly money enough left to purchase one of 
the forty hens that laid the eggs. 

Friday, Oct. 9. The trouble of young and old 
here is the flea. The native who is thoroughly inured 
to his habits may little heed him, but he keeps the 
stranger in a constant nettle. One would suppose, 
from his indiscriminate and unmitigated hostility, he 
considered himself the proprietor of all California. 
Indeed, he does seem to be the genuine owner of the 
soil, instead of a tenant at will. It is true he may 
construct no dwellings, but he will plant himself in 
every nook and corner of the one which you may 
construct. He jumps into your cradle, jumps with 
you all along through life, and well would it be for 
those who remain if he jumped with you out of it. 



TH'ilEJt: YEAILS IN CALIFORNIA. 71 

But no, he remains still ; and grief for your loss will 
half forget its bereavement in parrying his assaults. 

Saturday, Oct. 10. We are waiting with some 
anxiety for news from the Pueblo de los Angeles. A 
rumor reached here yesterday, that the small Ameri- 
can force ^ there would not be able to hold out much 
longer against the overwhelming odds of the insur- 
gents. But the Savannah must by this time have 
reached San Pedro, and her crew be on their march 
to the scene of action. They are a body of brave, 
unflinching men, and are commanded by officers of 
great firmness and force. A sailor on land never 
thinks of running more than he would at sea. He 
is trained to stand to his post, and will do so on the 
field as well as the deck. The last man who left the 
ground in that disreputable retreat from Bladensburg 
was a sailor. When the rest were far out of sight he 
remained at his gun, and was wadding home to give 
the enemy another shot. In the fight of the Essex 
many threw themselves out of the ports, determined 
to drown sooner than surrender. 

Sunday, Oct. 11. Another bright and beautiful 
Sabbath has dawned ; but there is little here to re- 
mind one of its sacredness. A few of the larger 
stores are closed, but the smaller shops are all open. 
More liquors are retailed on this day than any other 
three. I have the power to close these shops, and 
shall do it. 



72 



CHAPTER V. 

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAINS. EMIGRANTS. PISTOLS AND PILLOWS. LEADERS 

OF THE INSURRECTION. CALIFORNIA PLOUGH. DEFEAT AT SAN PEDRO. 

— COL. Fremont's band. — the malek adhel. — monterey threatened. 

soldier outwitted. raising men. BRIDEGROOM. CULPRITS. 

Monday, Oct. 12. A wide conflagration is sweep- 
ing over the hills which encircle the bay of Monte- 
rey. The forests, and the grass with which they are 
feathered, are as dry as tinder, and the flame rolls on 
with its line of fire clearly and fearfully defined. 
This has become still more grand and awful since 
the night set in. The clouds seem to float in an at- 
mosphere of fire ; and the billows, as they roll to the 
rock-bound shore, are crested with flame. The birds 
are flying from their crackling covert, and the wolves 
go howling over the hills. It is a type of that final 
conflagration in which the great frame of nature will 
at last sink. 

Tuesday, Oct. 13. Emigrants from the United 
States are still pouring into the rich valley of the 
Sacramento. A letter from one of them says : — " It 
may not be uninteresting to you to know that the 
emigrants by land the present season far exceed the 
expectation of the most sanguine. No less than two 
thousand are now in the interior, and within a hun- 
dred miles of the settlements. They bring with them 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 73 

• 

a large amount of intelligence, wealth, and industry, 
all of which are greatly needed in their new honne. 
The Mormons alone have a train of more than three 
hundred wagons." 

These emim-ants will chancre the face of California. 
We shall soon have not only the fruits of nature, but 
of human industry. We shall soon be able to get a 
ball of butter without churning it on the back of a 
wild colt ; and a potatoe without weighing it as if it 
were a doubloon. Were it possible for a man to live 
without the trouble of drawing his breath, I should 
look for this pleasing phenomenon in California 

Wednesday, Oct. 14. The success of the insur- 
gents at the south has emboldened the reckless here. 
Bands have been gathering in the vicinity to make a 
night assault on Monterey. Their plan is to capture 
or drive out the small American force here, and plun- 
der the town. Those engaged in it are men of des- 
perate fortunes. The streets to-day have been barri- 
caded, and the true and trusty among the citizens 
have been formed into a night patrol. I sleep with 
my rifle at my bedside, and with two pistols under 
my pillow. My servant, who is a brave little fellow, 
is also armed to the teeth. He ought to be brave, 
for he was born in St. Helena, close to the tomb of 
Napoleon, and must have caught some fire from the 
hero's ashes. My house has grated windows, and an 
entrance that is easily defended against odds, so that 
we shall probably make a pretty good fight of it. 

7 



74 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

One thing is certain, neither of us go out alive. I 
will not be taken, tortured, and hacked to pieces, as 
two of our countrymen were a few months since. 

Thursday, Oct. 15. No assault yet: but a com- 
pany of horsemen have been seen to-day crossing the 
southern plain, and winding off behind the hills at 
the west. They have, as a messenger informs us, 
joined another party much larger than their own, and 
are now encamped in the woods. The citizens here 
who have been true to our flag, feel deeply alarmed ; 
and in truth they have some occasion, for if the town 
is sacked they will be among the first sufferers. I 
have sent an express to Com. Stockton, who is at 
San Francisco, where he has been engaged in raising 
and dispatching a heavy force for San Pedro. He 
will be here with the Congress as fast as the winds 
and waves can bring him. 

Friday, Oct. 16. Our relief has come. The Con- 
gress arrived to-day, and the commodore immediately 
landed, under Capt. Maddox, U. S. marine corps, a 
sufficient force to repel any attack that may be made. 
Our friends now breathe more freely. They may go 
outside the town without the fear of having their re- 
treat cut off by a flying horseman, and sleep at night 
without the apprehension of awaking under a flaming 
roof The noble tars of the Congress, when they saw 
our flag still flying on the fort, hailed it with three 
stout cheers, which were heard over all Monterey. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 75 

They feared, and not without reason, that it had been 
captured ; and when they saw it still streaming on the 
wind, their enthusiasm and joy broke forth. 

Saturday, Oct. 17. As soon as the intelligence 
of the insurrection below reached Com. Stockton, he 
dispatched the Savannah to San Pedro ; and sent 
fast in her wake a quick coaster, with Col. Fremont 
and two hundred riflemen on board, who are to land 
in the night at Santa Barbara, and take the place by 
surprise. This was managed with so much celerity 
and secrecy, that the disaffected here are still ignorant 
of the fact. 

What will be the surprise of the insurgents at los 
Angeles, if defeated by the forces of the Savannah, to 
find their retreat cut off* by the riflemen of Col. Fre- 
mont ! Between these two fires there wdll be little 
chance of escape. Not a few of them have given 
their parol of honor tliat they will not, on pain of 
death, take up arms against the United States. They 
are now in the field, and their treachery may cost 
them their lives. It is painful, but may be necessary 
to make examples of them. California will never 
have any repose while they are in it. They have 
headed every revolution that has taken place for 
years, and they have now headed their last. 

Sunday, Oct. 18. I issued, a few days since, an 
ordinance against gambling — a vice which shows it- 
self here more on the Sabbath than any other day of 



76 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the week. The efFect of it has been to drive the 
gamblers from the town into the bushes. I have been 
informed this evening, that in a ravine, at a short dis- 
tance, some thirty individuals have been engaged 
through the day in this desperate play. They selected 
a spot deeply embowered in shade, and escaped the 
eye of my constables. But there is an eye from the 
glance of which the gloom of the forest and even the 
recesses of night afford no refuge. 

Monday, Oct. 19. Some twenty men left the pre- 
cincts of Monterey, last night, to join the insurgents 
at the south. They are all men of desperate fortunes, 
and may find that they have started too late. They who 
have been duped may perhaps be spared, but the ring- 
leaders are doomed. There is only one resting-place 
for them in California. He who breaks his solemnly 
plighted faith, can claim no mercy for the past and 
no confidence for the future. 

Were this frantic insurrection sustained by the 
slightest probability of success, it would relieve, per- 
haps, its madness and atrocity. But they who insti- 
gated it knew it must end in disaster and blood. 
They knew its only trophies must be a little plunder, 
cursed by the crimes through which it had been pro- 
cured. They threw themselves down this cataract, 
and will never again reascend its steep wave. 

Tuesday, Oct. 20. The mode of cultivating land 
in California is eminently primitive. In December or 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 77 

January they take a piece of wood in the shape of a 
ship's knee, dress it down a Httle with a dull axe, and 
spike a piece of iron to the lower point. A pole, by 
which the oxen draw, runs from the inner bend of the 
knee to the yoke. This pole has a mortise, about 
eight inches long, made . slanting, and about a foot 
from the after end ; a piece of wood, about two inches 
by six, runs up through the plough and pole, and is so 
wedged into the mortise of the pole, as to make the 
plough run shallow or deep as required. But if the 
ground happens to be hard the plough will not enter 
an inch, and if there are roots in the ground it must 
be lifted over, or it will be invariably broken. Such 
is a California plough ; such a fair specimen of the 
arts here. 

Wednesday, Oct. 21. If late in the season, the 
Californiari rarely prepares the ground by any furrow- 
ing attempts. He scatters the seed about the field, 
and then scratches it in with the thing which he calls 
a plough. Should this scratching fail of yielding 
him sixty bushels to the acre, he grumbles. In reap- 
ing he cuts so high, to save a little trouble in thresh- 
ing, which is done here by horses, that he loses one- 
eighth of his crop ; but this eighth serves for seed the 
next season ; and what to him is better still, saves the 
trouble of sowing. So that his second crop plants it- 
self from the first, and is often nearly as large as its 
predecessor. Even the third self-planted crop is quite 
respectable, and would satisfy a New England farmer 



78 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

for his laborious toil ; but here it generally goes to the 
blackbirds. 

Thursday, Oct. 22. A mother came to me, to-day, 
with a request that I would summon before me an- 
other woman, who had slandered her daughter. I 
tried to dissuade her from it — told her that persevering 
virtue would outlive all scandal. But she said she 
was a poor widow, and the reputation of her family 
was all she had to depend on. So I summoned the 
woman, who confessed her injurious words, but said 
they had been uttered in passion, and that she now 
deeply regretted them. On her assurance that she 
would repair as far as in her power any injury she had 
done, I dismissed the parties. 

Friday, Oct. 23. The merchant ship Vandalia is 
just in from San Pedro, with intelligence from the 
seat of war. Capt. Gillespie, it seems, had been obliged 
to capitulate ; but the terms were that he should leave 
the Pueblo with all the honors of war. He marched 
out of the town with his flag flying ; and, on arriving 
at San Pedro, embarked on board the Vandalia. 

The frigate Savannah soon hove in sight. Her 
forces under Capt. Mervin, and those from the Van- 
dalia under Capt. Gillespie, started at once for the 
Pueblo. After a march of fifteen miles, they encamped 
for the night. But their slumbers were soon disturbed 
by a shot, which thundered its way into their midst. 
They seized their arms, but in the darkness of the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 79 

night nothing could be seen, and nothing heard save 
the distant tramp of horses. At break of day they 
renewed their march, but had not proceeded far be- 
fore they were attacked by a CaUfornian force on 
horseback, drawing a four-pounder. Their enemy 
kept out of the range of their muskets, fled as fast 
as they charged, and, having gained a safe dis- 
tance, wheeled and played upon them with their 
four-pounder, charged with grape. Capt. Mervin, 
finding himself unable to bring the enemy to a gen- 
eral engagement, and having five of his men killed, 
and a greater number wounded, ordered a retreat, 
and returned without further molestation on board 
the Savannah. His defeat lay in the fact that his 
men were all on foot, and without any artillery to 
protect them against the longer range of the piece 
which the enemy had brought into the field. 

Saturday, Oct. 24. Col. Fremont having fallen in 
with th-e Vandalia, and ascertained from her that no 
horses could be procured for his men at Santa Bar- 
bara, decided on returning in the Sterling to this port. 
His arrival has been delayed by a succession of light 
head winds, and dead calms. When within fifty miles 
of the port, a boat was dispatched, which is just in. 
Several of his men came in her, who are to start in 
advance in quest of horses. They will probably have 
to go as far as the Sacramento, for all the horses in 
this immediate vicinity have been driven south by 
the insurgents. I have lost both of mine ; but what 



80 THREE YEARS 11'^ CALIFORNIA. 

are two to the hundred and fifty which were driven 
from the farm of one man. If misery loves company, 
I have a plenty of that sort of consolation. But the 
extent of a misfortune depends not so much on what 
is taken, as what is left. The last surviving child in 
a family is invested with the affections which en- 
circled the whole. 

Sunday, Oct. 25. With us the sound of the 
church-going bell has been exchanged for the roll of 
the drum. One of the moral miseries of war is the 
profanation of the Sabbath which it involves. There 
is something in miUtary movements which seems to 
cut the conscience adrift from its moorings on this 
subject. 

Monday, Oct. 26. We shall soon see what the 
genius of Com. Stockton is equal to in a great emer- 
gency. He will arrive at San Pedro without horses, 
or any means of procuring them. They are all 
driven off, or under men who seem as if born on the 
saddle. He will encounter on his march to los 
Angeles the same flying artillery which foiled the 
forces under Capt. Mervin. But he will have several 
v/ell-mounted pieces ; they must be drawn, however, 
by oxen over a deep sandy road. If the enemy 
comes within range, he will open and give them a 
volley of grape. In this way he will reach, recap- 
ture the place, and unfurl the stars and stripes. But 
how he will maintain himself — how he will procure 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 81 

provisions with the country around in the hands of 
a mounted enemy, remains to be seen. Mihtary 
genius, however, asserts its fullest force in the greatest 
emergency. It is like the eagle exulting in peril, and 
throwing its strong pinions on the mountain storm. 

Tuesday, Oct. 27. The prize brig Malek Adhel, 
commanded by Lieut. W. B. Renshaw, arrived in 
port this afternoon in thirty days from Mazatlan. 
She brings the first intelligence of her own capture. 
The U. S. ship Warren, under Commander Hull, 
anchored off Mazatlan on the sixth ult., and found 
there the Malek Adhel, moored within a hundred and 
fifty yards of the mole, with sails unbent, and running 
rigging unrove. The next day her rudder was to 
have been unshipped, and she was to have been hauled 
up the creek for safe keeping. Commander Hull de- 
termined immediately to cut her out; hauled his ship 
in close to the bar, and sent sixty men in the launch 
and the three cutters, under charge of Lieuts. Rad- 
ford and Renshaw, with orders to bring her out, or 
finding that impracticable, to burn her. On their ap- 
proach, the officer in charge escaped to the shore : 
they boarded her without opposition, unmoored and 
warped her outside the bar. While doing this, about 
two hundred and fifty Mexican soldiers mustered on 
the mole ; another party dragged a field-piece up the 
hill abreast of the brig, commanding her and the channel 
to the bar ; but upon a second thought the governor 
determined to offer no resistance, alleging that the 



82 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Warren's guns would do more damage to the town 
than the brig w^as worth. The Malek Adhel, however, 
is a valuable prize, being a fine sailer and a good sea- 
boat ; she was gallantly captured. 

Wednesday, Oct. 28. The Sterling is just in with 
Col. Fremont and his riflemen. They are in a half- 
starved condition, having been for several days on 
the very shortest commons. I never met with a more 
famished crew. The call for meat and bread roused 
up all the butchers and bakers in Monterey. What 
an energy there is in downright hunger ! 

Thursday, Oct. 29. Our Indian scouts, who came 
m yesterday, reported the discovery of a large band 
of Californians in the cover of the hills within the 
vicinity of Monterey. They probably purposed an 
attack on the town last night, as the garrison had 
been weakened by the absence of thirty men, who 
had left, under the command of Capt. Maddox, for 
San Juan. But the unexpected arrival of Col. Fre- 
mont frustrated their plans. We might have a battle 
with them were there horses here ; but to attempt it 
on foot, would be like a man with a wooden leg 
chasing a hare. 

Monterey has at present much the aspect of a mil- 
itary garrison. The streets are barricaded ; a pa- 
trol is kept up night and day ; no one is permitted 
to leave without a written passport, and no one al- 
lowed to enter without reporting himself to the police. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 83 

No one can be in the streets after nine without the 
countersign. Every thing, of course, in the shape 
of amusement is at an end ; even ordinary business 
is in a great measure suspended. You hear only the 
roll of the drum at muster, and the toll of the bell 
over some one going to his last rest, 

Friday, Oct. 30. One of the guard in charge of 
Col. Fremont's horses, in the vicinity of the town, was 
approached, this afternoon, by two Californians on 
horseback, who inquired if he had seen a buck break 
from the woods near by. Having by this natural 
question laid suspicion, they entered into conversa- 
tion on other topics, watched their opportunity, seized 
his rifle, shot him, and dashed off* at full speed. The 
nefarious act produced a profound sensation in the 
camp. The shot, however, proves not mortal, so that 
the wounded man may yet have an opportunity of 
facing his foe in the field. 

Saturday, Oct. 31. Enlistments are going on ac- 
tively among the emigrants recently arrived on the 
banks of the Sacramento. The women and children 
are placed in the missions ; the men take the rifle 
and start for the battle-field : such is their welcome 
to California. The Israelites entered the land of 
promise by arms, and established themselves by the 
force of their military prowess. But this is not quite 
the land of promise, nor are these Israelites who 
stream over the Rocky Mountains. But they are a 



84 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

sturdy band, whose enterprise will cover these fertile 
hills with golden harvests. They have pitched their 
tents by the water-courses, and those tents they will 
never strike. 

They are enhsted into the service mainly through 
the activity of Capt. Montgomery, who commands 
the Portsmouth, and is military commandant of the 
northern department of California. His measures 
have been judicious, his action prompt, and he has 
rendered substantial service in supplying from, the 
emigrations the sinews of war. Every American in 
California shows his entire stature ; no one is lost in 
the crowd ; no voice is drowned by a general clamor ; 
every action tells. It is a blow which thunders by 
itself on the great anvil of time. It is another rock 
rolled into the foundations of a mighty empire. 

Sunday, Nov. 1. An Indian was taken up by one 
of our scouts yesterday, who confessed that he was 
the bearer of a message from a Roman Catholic 
priest to a party that were arming themselves to join 
the insurrection. The message conveyed intelligence 
of the approach of our forces. The Indian was sent 
back to his master with the intelligence that if he at- 
tempted any further correspondence with the enemy, 
it would be at the peril of his life. 

Monday, Nov. 2d. Our bay is full of the finest 
fish, and yet it is rare to meet one on the table. There 
is not a boat here in which one can safely trust him- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 85 

self a cable's length from land. And if there were, 
there would be no Californians to row it. Could 
they go to sea on their horses, and fish from their 
saddles, they would often be seen dashing through 
the surf ; but to sit quietly in a boat and bob a line, 
is entirely too tame a business. Put a fish on land, 
and give him the speed of the buck, and he would have 
a dozen Californians and forty hounds on his trail. 

Tuesday, Nov. 3. A Cahfornian in my employ 
asked me to-day to pay him a small sum in advance 
of his services, stating that he was on the eve of be- 
ing married, and wanted this advance to enable him 
to. put silver mountings on his saddle and bridle. 
Had he asked me for money with wiych to pay the 
priest, I should have understood the propriety of the 
request ; but the connection between a silver star on 
the head-stall of his bridle and a marriage celebration, 
surpassed my dim comprehension. However, as there 
was a lady in the case, I let him have the money. 
But it seems it is the custom here, for the bridegroom 
to appear on his wedding-day upon a splendid horse, 
elegantly caparisoned. It is then the silver star 
shines out. The noble steed and glittering trappings 
divide with the bride the admiration of the crowd. 

Wednesday, Nov. 4. The Californians now in 
arms number twelve or fourteen hundred. They are 
from every section of the country. Their rallying 
point is los Angeles They have made a clean 

8 



8§ THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

sweep of all the horses along the coast. Natives as 
well as fore'gTiers are left to get along on foot. This 
is not an easy task in a country where furlongs stretch 
into leagues. 

Of these twelve hundred in arms, probably not a 
hundred have a foot of land. They drift about like 
Arabs, stealing the horses on which they ride, and the 
cattle on which they subsist. They are ready to join 
any revolution, be its leaders whom thqy may. If 
the tide of fortune turns against them, they disband 
and scatter to the four winds. They never become 
martyrs in any cause. They are too numerous to Lo 
brought to punishment. No government has been 
strong enough to set them at defiance, or dispense 
with their venal aid. They have now, however, to 
deal with a power too sagacious to be cajoled, and 
too strong to be overawed. They will not be per- 
mitted to spring a revolution, and leave its conse- 
quences to others. The results will follow them into 
every forest and fastness. They have but one es- 
cape, and that leads into Mexico. Men of substance 
will regret their loss about as much as the Egyptians 
the disappearance of the locusts. 

Thursday, Nov. 5. The second rain of the season 
fell last night. It came down copiously for several 
hours : multitudes forgot their dreams in listening to 
its grateful patter on the roof. The effects of the first 
shower, which fell a few days since, are visible in the 
landscape. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 87 

From the moist meadow to the withered hill, 
Led hy the breeze, the vivid verdure runs, 
And swells and deepens to the cherished eye. 

Friday, Nov. 6. Two Californians were arrested 
to-day by one of my constables, charged with having 
broken open a shop and robbed it of many valuable 
articles. The burglary was committed several nights 
since, but no clue to the perpetrators could be ob- 
tained. By keeping silent on the subject, one of them 
had at last the imprudence to offer for sale one of the 
stolen articles, which was immediately identified, and 
led to the detection of both. Most of the property 
was found in their possession, and restored to its 
owners. The evidence of their guilt being conclu- 
sive, and there being no young lawyer here to pick a 
flaw in the indictment, or help them to an alihi, they 
were sentenced each to the public works for one 
year. The way of transgressors is hard. 

Saturday, Nov. 7. In Monterey, as in all other 
towns that I have ever seen, crimes are perpetrated 
mostly at night. The Indian, however, steals when 
the temptation presents itself, and trusts luck for the 
consequences. And in truth if any being has a right 
to steal, it is the civilized Indian of California. All 
the mission lands, with their delicious orchards, wav- 
ing grain, flocks and herds, were once his, and were 
stolen from him by the white man. He has only one 
mode gf retaliating these wrongs. But Californians 



88 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

and foreigners, more wary, steal at night. It is as 
true here as elsewhere — 

" That when the searching eye of heaven is hid 
Behind the globe, and lights the lower world. 
Then thieves and robbers range abroad unseen, 
In murders, and in outrage, bloody here ; 
But when, from under this terrestrial ball. 
He fires the proud tops of the eastern pines, 
And darts his hght through every guilty hole. 
Then murders, treasons, and detested sins. 
The cloak of night being plucked from off their backs, 
Stand bare and naked, trembhng at themselves." 

Sunday, Nov. 8. There is not, except myself, a 
Protestant clergyman in California. If the tide of 
emigration continues, there will be thousands here 
without a spiritual teacher. Years must elapse be- 
fore any can be trained here for the sacred office. 
The supply must come from abroad. The American 
churches must wake up to their duty on this subject. 
These emigrants are their children, and they should 
extend to them their most jealous care. 



f 




»^^ 




'.^^:;^-:>^^<^ 




^^^ 



89 



CHAPTER VI. 

SANTA BARBARA TAKEN. LIEUT. TALBOT AND HIS TEN. GAMBLING IN 

PRISON. RECRUITS. A FUNNY CULPRIT. MOVEMENTS OF COM. STOCK- 
TON. BEAUTY AND THE GRAVE. — BATTLE ON THE SALINAS. THE CAP- 

TAIn's DAUGHTER. STOLEN PISTOLS. INDIAN BEHIND A TREE. NUP- 
TIALS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Monday, Nov. 9. The guard of ten, commanded 
by Lieut. T. Talbot, and posted at Santa Barbara to 
maintain the American flag, arrived here last evening. 
When the insurrection broke out at the south, they 
were summoned by some two hundred Californians to 
surrender. They contrived, however, under cover of 
night, to effect their escape. Their first halt was in 
a thicket, to which they were pursued by some fifty 
of the enemy on horseback. They waited, like lions 
in their lair, till the foe was within good rifle shot, 
and then discharged their pieces with- terrific effect. 
The surviving assailants left their dead, and rushed 
back for reinforcements : but in the mean time, the 
hardy ten had pushed their way several leagues to the 
east, and gained a new ambush. An Indian might 
perhaps have trailed them ; but their pursuers had 
not this wild sagacity. They rode here and there, 
penetrating every thicket, but the right one, and to 
prevent their escape at night, set fire to the woods. 
But one ravine, overhung with green pines, covered 
them wdth its mantling shadows ; through this they 
made their noiseless escape. 

8* 



90 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

To avoid the Californians, who were coming down 
in great numbers from the north to join their com- 
rades in the south, the party of ten held their course 
to the east. They spent several days in attempting 
to find the pass which leads through the first range of 
the Californian mountains to the valley of the San 
Joaquin ; but being unacquainted with the topography 
of the country, their utmost efforts were baffled. 
During this time they suffered greatly from hunger 
and thirst : the rugged steeps, among which they were 
straying, yielded neither streams nor game. At last, 
they fell in with a Cholo, the Arab of California, who 
kindly offered to conduct them to the mountain pass, 
and surrendered the use of his horse to carry their 
knapsacks and blankets. The pass was gained ; but 
their hospitable guide still continued with them till 
they reached a tribe of Indians on the opposite side. 
Here he took leave of them, declining all compensa- 
tion for his pains, and started back for his wild moun- 
tain home. 

The Indians received them kindly, gave them their 
best acorns to eat, and their purest water to drink. 
These are the Indians who were brought before me a 
few months since, charged with an attempt to steal a 
drove of horses from Carmel. There being no posi- 
tive proof of guilt, they were kindly treated, and 
instead of being threatened with dungeons and death, 
were dismissed with many beautiful presents. These 
presents they still preserved, and exhibited them with 
evident gratification and pride to their new guests. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 91 

Lieut. Talbot and party, guided by these faithful 
Indians, now held their course through the valley of 
the San Joaquin. Their progress was delayed by the 
sickness of one of their companions, whom they were 
obliged to carry on a litter. They subsisted entirely 
on the wdld game which they killed. They were all 
on foot ; and after travelling nearly five hundred miles 
in this manner, reached Monterey, where they were 
welcomed to the camp of Col. Fremont with three 
hearty cheers. 

Tuesday, Nov. 10. The merchant ship Euphemia 
arrived to-day from the Sandwich Islands, bringing 
the inteUigence that the Columbus, bearing the broad 
pennant of Com. Biddle, had sailed from Honolulu for 
Valparaiso. We shall not then see that noble ship 
on this coast ; she is bound homeward round the 
Cape. Her eight hundred men, with Com. Biddle 
at their head, would have been a great accession to 
our strength. It is not, however, a naval force of 
which we stand in greatest need. The war in Cali- 
fornia can never be decided from the deck. We 
w^ant some five hundred horsemen, thoroughly accus- 
tomed to the saddle and the rifle, and a few pieces 
of flying-artillery. Without these we shall have con- 
stant attempts at revolution. They will invariably 
end in the defeat of those who get them up, but will 
involve private property and the public tranquillity. 

Wednesday, Nov. 11. I found one of our prison- 



92 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ers at work to-day without a shirt, and supposed at 
first that he was indulging in some whim ; but ascer- 
tained, upon further inquiry, that he had gambled it 
away to a fellow-prisoner. They had no cards or 
dice, but had managed to substitute a bone, which 
they whirled into the air, and which decided the game 
by falling with this or that end into the ground. 
I made the winner give back the shirt, which he 
did with evident reluctance, as he had played his 
own against it, and would have been, had he lost, as 
naked as his neighbor. An Indian, and Californian 
too, will gamble to the skin of their teeth, and even 
part with their grinders were they articles of value to 
others. But a tooth is much like the principle of 
life, which avails no one save its owner. 

Thursday, Nov. 12. Capt. Grigsby arrived to- 
day from Sonoma with thirty mounted riflemen and 
sixty horses, and joined Col. Fremont's encampment. 
Capt. Hastings is expected in every day from San 
Jose with sixty men, well mounted, and twice that 
number of horses. Every rider here, destined on an 
arduous expedition, must have one or two spare 
horses, especially at this season of the year, when no 
feed can be procured except the slender grass which 
has sprung up in the recent showers, and which con- 
tains very little sustenance. It is easier to procure 
provender for a thousand horses on a march in the 
United States than ten here. And yet the table-lands 
here are covered through the summer with wild oats. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 93 

But where are the reapers ? On horseback, galloping 
about and carousing at this rancho and that. Their 
sickles are the rein, their sheaves a pack of cards, their 
flails a guitar. 

" Ifo cocks do them to rustic labor call, 

From village on to village sounding clear ; 
To tardy swain no shrill-voiced matron's squall, 
I!^or hammer's thump disturbs the vacant ear." 

Friday, Nov. 13. Two fellows of Mexican origin 
were brought before me to-day, charged with break- 
ing open the money-chest of the eating-house where 
they had transiently stopped, and taking from it about 
five hundred dollars. The owner having immediate 
occasion to go to his chest, dicovered his loss, and 
suspected at once the persons concerned in it. They 
were apprehended, and soon after the money was 
found in the back yard, where it had been hastily 
buried after having been tied up in a handkerchief, 
which was identified as the neck-cloth of one of the 
accused. One discovery led to another, till the evi- 
dences of guilt, involving both, were fully established. 

One of them then said there was no use in trying 
to get rid of the business any longer, and he would 
now tell the whole story straight as an arrow. He 
said that he and Antonio had talked over the matter 
the night before, and that he then attempted to reach 
the chest, but that the person in whose room it lay, 
and who had been asleep, suddenly stopped snoring, 
and getting alarmed he ran down stairs. But this 



94 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

morning, while Antonio was entertaining the rest, and 
treating them to cocktails, he slipped up to the cham- 
ber, broke the lock, and filled his pockets with the 
coin. He had no time, he said, to pick out the gold, 
which would have been a great convenience, but 
scraped up silver and gold as they came, leaving in 
the chest about as much as he took. It was very 
vexatious, he said, to leave so much, but his pockets 
would hold no more : he was really afraid they would 
fetch away with what they had got. But he buoyed 
them up with his hands, reached the back yard, where 
he delivered the money over to Antonio, who received 
it in his handkerchief and buried it ; but buried it in ex- 
actly the wrong spot, for he went off into a corner in- 
stead of sinking it where everybody must step over it. 
He told this story with a countenance which played 
between a tragic and comic expression. Antonio, 
who had been both diverted and alarmed by the narra- 
tive of his accomplice, when it came his turn to speak, 
said his companion was the funniest fellow alive ; he 
believed he would joke on the scaffold, if he could 
shake a kink out of the rope, and get breathing time 
for it. They were both a strange compound of wit 
and villany. They were sentenced to the public 
works for three years. 

Saturday, Nov. 14. The Savannah arrived here 
to-day from the leeward, and reports the Congress on 
her way to San Diego, where she had gone to re- 
enforce the garrison. This important post had been 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 95 

recaptured by the Americans, under the command of 
Capt. Merrit, an emigrant officer of undaunted cour- 
age. He had been obUged to evacuate it a few weeks 
before, and was fortunate in being able to get his men 
on board a whale ship lying in the offing at the time. 
But a portion of the force opposed to him having 
been withdrawn to support the Mexican flag at los 
Angeles, he landed again in the night, and took the 
garrison by surprise. This being the most southern 
post in California, Com. Stockton deemed it of the 
first importance to make its possession secure. To 
effect this object, he was obliged to postpone his pur- 
pose of recapturing at once the capital of the prov- 
ince. The best way to fight the Californians is to 
hem them in. They never turn upon you as lions at 
bay. The possibility of an escape is an element in 
their courage. They never borrow resolution from 
despair. They are so accustomed to range at free- 
dom, to make their homes wherever adventure or 
caprice may carry them, that the idea of being cooped 
up to one* place has almost as much privation and 
misery in it as the slave-ship inflicts upon its cap- 
tives. 

They still might deem their scope too pent, 
Though each had leave to pitch his tent 
"Where'er his wildest -wish might urge, 
Within creation's utmost verge. 

Sunday, Nov. 15. One of the most beautiful ladies 
in Monterey has this day been consigned to the silent 



j)6 THREE YEARS IPC CALIFORxXlA. 

grave. She was in the bloom of life, and visions of 
happiness threw their enchantments along the vista of 
her future years. She had all that wealth and beauty 
can bestow. Her personal charms were rivalled only 
by those of her mind. Her heart trembled through 
every fibre of her frame. 

" Whene'er with soft serenity she smiled, 

Or caught the orient blush of quick surprise, 
How sweetly mutable, how brightly wild. 

The liquid lustre darted from her eyes ! 
Each look, each motion, waked a new-born grace, 

That o'er her form a transient glory cast : 
Some lovelier wonder soon usurped the place, 

Chased by a charm still lovelier than the last." 

But she is gone ! she has left us like the bird which 
carolled in the morn, and departed upon its slanting 
ray. But her virtues survive in a brighter sphere ; 
her beauty is stamped with immortality ; her hand 
strikes a harp that will pour its melodies when the 
groves and streams of earth are silent. 

Monday, Nov. 16. A Delaware Indian, quite out 
of breath, entered Col. Fremont's camp this morning 
with the intelligence that an irregular engagement 
took place last evening between a party of forty 
Americans, and a hundred and fifty Californians, on 
the Salinas river, about fifteen miles from Monterey. 
The Americans were coming down from San Juan, 
and had with them three hundred fresh horses which 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 97 

they had brought from the Sacramento. The intel- 
ligence of their approach had reached the Californi- 
ans, who had mustered all their force in this quarter, 
more for the purpose of capturing the horses than 
their riders. But the Americans, who were sixty 
strong, anticipating the possibility of an attack in 
crossing the river, left their horses, except those they 
rode, in the rear with twenty of their number, while 
forty came ahead to engage the Californians. They 
were surprised at their numbers, but rushed at once 
into the encounter. Capt. Foster was killed in the 
first charge, and Capt. Burrows, who was wounded 
in the first, fell in leading the second. Two Ameri- 
can privates were killed, and a number of Californi- 
ans. The encounter took place near sunset, and the 
Americans remained in possession of the ground. 

The Delaware Indian, when the firing had slack- 
■^ned, left the field to bring the intelligence to Col. 
Fremont ; but having to turn the enemy's line, he 
was attacked by three Californians — one of whom he 
shot with his rifle, another he killed with his toma- 
hawk, and the third fled. His horse broke down be- 
fore he got in, and he ran the rest of the way on foot. 
He reports that Thomas O. Larkin, Esq., the Ameri- 
can consul, had been captured the night before, while 
at a rancho between this and San Juan. He had 
left Monterey to visit a sick child at San Francisco, 
and stopped for the night, when he was suddenly 
pounced upon : nor wife nor child will in any proba- 
bility see him soon again. He will be closely guard- 

9 



98 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA- 

ed ; his life will be considered good for that of several 
prominent Californian officers who have broken their 
parol ; and not unlikely some half-dozen may, in the 
event of disaster, be redeemed through his liberation. 

Tuesday, Nov. 17. Col. Fremont, with his three 
hundred riflemen, took his departure from Monterey 
this morning. They presented a very formidable 
line as they wound around the bay and disappeared 
in the shadows of the hills. 

Spur on my men ; the bugie peals 

Its last and stern command, — 
A charge ! a charge ! — an ocean burst 

Upon a stormy strand. 

The artillery is under the command of Capt. 
McLain, an officer of much private worth and pro- 
fessional merit. He has at present two beautiful 
brass-pieces, well mounted, and will have two more 
of the same description on leaving San Juan. With 
these he will be able to do good execution. Nothing 
alarms the Californians so much as a piece of flying- 
artillery. They had rather see the very Evil One 
come scraggling over the hills. 

Wednesday, Nov. 18. The horses which the Cal- 
ifornians were endeavoring to reach in their rencoun- 
ter on the river, were all preserved. Their loss 
would have been irretrievable in this campaign. 
The twenty men with whom they were left, declared 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 99 

they would perish to a man sooner than give them 
up. Rash as this resolution may seem, it would, had 
the emergency occurred, have been terribly realized. 
The American engaged in this war puts his life on 
the die. He must prevail or perish. If there shall 
be a general engagement between the forces now in 
the field, it will be one of the most frightful on record. 
The Americans are outnumbered three to one, — still 
they are determined to hazard the issue ; and would, 
probably, were the odds much greater. As horse- 
men, the Californians excel them; but they are great- 
ly their superiors in the use of the rifle and in ma- 
neuvering artillery. And these, after all, are the 
weapons and engines that must decide a hot engage- 
ment. Neither party has any veteran cuirassiers to 
hew their way to triumph through the cloven crests 
of the foe. The most terrific encounters on the field 
of Waterloo were between those who wielded the 
glaive. With them, at least, 

" An earthquake might have passed unheededlj away." 

Thursday, Nov. 19. How strangely the lights and 
shadows of life are blended ! As I passed this even- 
ing the house of Capt. de la T , a light strain of 

music came floating out from the corridor upon the 
silent air. It was the daughter of the captain whose 
hand swept the guitar which accompanied the modu- 
lations of her melodious voice. Her father and her 
uncle are both in the ranks of the Californians, lead- 



100 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ing a forlorn hope, after having broken their parol 
of honor, and forfeited their lives. And yet she is 
gay as if her father were only out hunting the ga- 
zelle. Just list the numbers as they break from her 
thoughtless heart : — 

Fly not yet, 'tis just the hour 
"When pleasure, like the midnight flower, 
That scorns the eye of vulgar light, 
Begins to bloom for sons of night, 
And maids who love the moon ! 

And yet that moon before it wanes may gleam 

upon her father's grave. But she knows it not. She 

thinks this war will end as other Californian wars — 

in smoke. But it is a tempest-cloud charged with 
bolted thunder. 

Friday, Nov. 20. A German complained to me 
this morning that one of the volunteers, a country- 
man of his, under Col. Fremont, had stolen from him 
a pair of valuable pistols. He strongly suspected the 
person who had taken them. I sent for him ; he 
confessed the act, delivered up the pistols, and begged 
me, as this was his first offence, not to expose him. 
He was a youth of eighteen or so, slightly built, and 
with a fair and remarkably ingenuous countenance. 
I told him he must take heed, as one offence often 
paves the way to another ; but as he was in the cam- 
paign, and might soon be on the field of peril and 
death, his error should rest in silence with his own 
conscience. The tears stood in his eyes. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 101 

Saturday, Nov. 21. Capt. Foster, it appears, was 
not shot in the heat of the engagement on the river. 
He had rushed forward in advance to reconnoitel'^^ 
and was suddenly surrounded from an ambush, and 
fell, bravely fighting to the last. A Delaware Indian, 
who was hastening to his rescue, finding himself hot- 
pressed, jumped from his horse behind a tree, from 
which he shot three of his antagonists, and then ef- 
fected his escape. His living breastwork now shows 
in its scathed rind, how well it served him. It looks 
as if the auger- worm had bored there for an age. 

There is something about a tree, with an Indian 
behind it, armed with a rifle, pointing this way and 
that, which awkwardly tests a man's nerves. You 
seem to be shooting at the muzzle of his rifle instead 
of him ; and that is not the worst of it, he is all the 
while shooting at you. If partial concealment lends 
a charm to beauty, it also lends terror to an Indian. 
We think of the brake as much as the serpent coiled 
in its shadows. Were lightning to fall without thun- 
der, people would put conductors on their bean-poles ; 
and yet the blazing bolt strikes and shivers while the 
lagging thunder is yet unheard. 

Sunday, Nov. 22. As soon as it will be prudent 
to withdraw our men from their posts on the Sab- 
bath, I intend to propose a religious service. We 
shall soon be able to gather fifty or more. Every 
house here has a ball-room where the gay may dance, 
and a Madonna to whom the afflicted may kneel ; 
9* 



102 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

but none have a chapel ; and if they had, the forms 
of Protestant worship would be held a profanation. 
There is only one way to get to heaven here, and 
• that is through the absolving power of the Papal See. 
1 Every other path leads to purgatorial pangs and 
penal fire. 

*s^ Monday, Nov. 23. It is said the Californians are 
born on horseback ; it may also be said they are mar- 
ried on horseback. The day the marriage contract 
is agreed on between the parties, the bridegroom's 
first care is to buy or borrow the best horse to be 
found in his vicinity. At the same time he has to 
get, by one of these means, a silver-mounted bridle, 
and a saddle with embroidered housings. This sad- 
dle must have, also, at its stern, a bridal pillion, with 
broad aprons flowing down the flanks of the horse. 
These aprons are also embroidered with silk of differ- 
ent colors, and with gold and silver thread. Around 
the margin runs a string of little steel plates, alterna- 
ted with slight pendants of the same metal. These, 
as the hors-e moves, jingle like a thousand mimic 
■ bells. 

The bride, also, comes in for her share in these 
nuptial preparations. The bridegroom must present 
her with at least six entire changes of raiment, nor 
forget, through any sentiment of delicacy, even the 
chemise. Such an oversight might frustrate all his 
hopes ; as it would be construed into a personal in- 
difference, — the last kind of indifference which a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 103 

California lady will forgive. He therefore hunts this 
article with as much solicitude as the Peri the gift 
that was to unlock Paradise. Having found six 
which are neither too full nor two slender, he packs 
them in rose-leaves which seem to flutter like his 
own heart, and sends them to the lady as his last bri- 
dal present. -She might naturally expect him to 
come next. 

The wedding-day having arrived, the two fine 
horses, procured for the occasion, are led to the door, 
saddled, bridled, and pillioned. The bridegroom takes 
up before him the godmother, and the godfather the 
bride, and thus they gallop away to church. The 
priest, in his richest robes, receives them at the altar, 
where they kneel, partake of the sacrament, and are 
married. This over, they start on their return, — but 
now the gentlemen change partners. The bride- 
groom, still on the pillion, takes up before him his 
bride. With his right arm he steadies her on the 
saddle, and in his left hand holds the reins. They 
return to the house of the parents of the bride, where 
they are generally received with a discharge of mus- 
ketry. Two persons, stationed at some convenient 
place, now rush out and seize him by his legs, and, 
before he has time to dismount, deprive him of his 
spurs, which he is obliged to redeem with a bottle of 
brandy. 

The married couple then enter the house, where 
the near relatives are all waiting in tears to receive 
them.* They kneel down before the parents of the 



104 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

lady, and crave a blessing, which is bestowed with 
patriarchal solemnity. On rising, the bridegroom 
makes a signal for the guests to come in, and another 
for the guitar and harp to strike up. Then com- 
mences the dancing, which continues often for three 
days, with only brief intervals for refreshment, but 
none for slumber : the wedded pair must be on their 
feet ; their dilemma furnishes food for good-humored 
gibes and merriment. Thus commences married life 
in California. This stream, it is to be hoped, is much 
smoother than its fount. 

Tuesday, Nov. 24. Monterey has been for the 
last two days remarkably quiet. The excitement oc- 
casioned by the battle on the Salinas has sunk into a 
dead calm. They who fell have received Christian 
burial ; and they who survived have departed, some 
to find graves elsewhere. The great tragedy of life 
here is so filled with incident that it requires no stage 
effect. It is the visionary sword which eluded the 
grasp of Macbeth, turned into flashing steel. 

Wednesday, Nov. 25. A Californian in trouble, 
often disregards the suggestions of national pride and 
personal resentment, and seeks succor where it can 
best be had. One of them who had been danger- 
ously wounded in the late engagement, came into 
Monterey this morning, and applied to our surgeon 
to have the ball extracted from his hip. He seemed 
to think that as he had been disabled by one Amer- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 105 

ican, it was only right and proper he should be re- 
stored by another. He will then probably be off to 
fight us again. Nor does this in him argue a want 
of gratitude. He seeks the field to encounter his 
foes, much on the same principle that you do the 
wood to hunt wild game. You level your rifle at the 
hawk, not because he has injured you, but partly to 
exercise your skill, and partly because he is a saucy 
fellow, screeching about and frightening the other 
birds. I never yet saw the little king-bird chase a 
hawk, or the sword-fish pursue a whale, without a 
sentiment of delight. Neither have harmed me ; but I 
hate all tyrants, whether they are on wings, fins, or legs. 

Thursday, Nov. 26. Some of the shopkeepers 
here have been so long in the habit of smuggling 
under the former high rate of duties, that now they 
hardly know how to give up the trick, though there 
is very little motive for pursuing it. I caught a 
Frenchman to-day endeavoring to evade the muni- 
cipal duty on rum. He had a hundred subterfuges, 
and flew from one to another, like a frightened cat- 
bird in the bush. His words fell so thick and fast 
that they quite covered up his falsehoods ; the leaves 
of a wind-shaken tree in autumn conceal the nuts 
which fall with them to the ground. It is idle to ex- 
pect honesty in a man who resorts to it only in the 
failure of his craft and cunning. His integrity is like 
the religion of some sailors — breaking out in ship- 
wreck. 



106 



CHAPTER VII. 

SAN JOSE GARRISONED. — A CALIFORNIA RAIN. ESCArE OF CONVICTS. — 

SHOOTING EDWARDS. TWO WASHERWOMEN. DEATH OF MR. SARGENT. 

INDIAN HENS. HUNTING CURLEW. THE CALIFORNIA HORSE. AN 

OLD EMIGRANT. THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 

Friday, Nov. 27. The prize brig Julia, Lieut. 
Seidell commanding, arrived here to-day from San 
Francisco. She left there the Savannah and War- 
ren. Fifty of the Savannah's men had been sent 
by Capt. Mervin to San Jose, under command of 
Lieut. Pinkney, where they will form a military post, 
of sufficient strength, it is believed, to repel any hos- 
tile attacks, and maintain the flag. The northern 
half of California is now pretty safe ; the ranchos 
may suffer from marauding parties of the enemy, and 
some acts of violence be committed, but no import- 
ant post can be wrenched from our possession. In 
the south we hold San Diego, and have an enemy in 
the field at los Angeles. They will probably break 
covert at two or three different points ; some will fly 
for Mexico, and some for the sheltered coves of the 
San Joaquin. Let those catch them who can ; I 
would as soon track a chamois among the clefts and 
pinnacles of the Alps. 

Saturday, Nov. 28. It is now near the close of 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 107 

that month which in other climes is often one of the 
most unpleasant in the year ; but here it has been 
one of unrivalled brilliancy. The sky has been al- 
most without a cloud, the winds have slept, and 
the soft air has lain on the landscape like a golden 
slumber. Such is the tranquil beauty in which the 
vernal year here sinks to repose. 

" Ah ! 'twere a lot too bless'd, 
Forever in thy color'd shades to stray ; 
Amid the kisses of the soft southwest 

To rove and dream for aye ; 

And leave the vain low strife 
That makes men mad ; the tug for wealth and power, 
The passions and the cares that wither hfe. 

And waste its little horn-." 

BRYANT. 

Sunday, Nov. 29. Two Californians called upon 
me to-day, to decide a difficulty which had arisen 
between them in some money transactions. I told 
them to call on some week-day — that I attended to 
no business matters on the Sabbath. They apolo- 
gized for interfering with my recreations ; I told them 
I had no recreations to be disturbed, but I would not 
open my office for business on the Sabbath. Had I 
told them I was going to a cock-fight, their only won- 
der would have been that they had not heard of the 
sport ; and both would have forgotten their business 
in hunting their cash for the ring. Such is the moral 
obtuseness which a perversion of the Sabbath in- 
duces. ^ The heart on which the dews of this sacred 



108 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

morn have never melted, will be desolate of moral 
verdure ; though here and there a leaf may spring 
like flowers in the cleft of a rock. 

Monday, Nov. 30. We have had at last a true 
specimen of California showers. The wind blew a 
gale from the south. Cloud on cloud was piled into 
the zenith, till the whole dome of heaven was filled 
with substantial darkness. The earth lay in an 
eclipse. A few heavy rolls of thunder, and the rain 
fell in torrents ; it lasted twelve hours. Every roof 
and frowning cliff became a cascade. Down each 
ravine rolled an exulting tide. The aquatic bird 
dashed onward in its foam to the sea. Suddenly the 
wind veered into the west, and in a few moments the 
sky was without a cloud. Field and forest flashed 
out in the splendors of the sun ; and on the soft wind 
came gushes of music from the wild- wood. Instead 
of bleak November, you would have said : 

" Fairer and brighter spreads the reign of May ; 
The tresses of the woods 
With the light dallying of the west wind play • 
And the full briniing floods, 
As gladly to their goal they run, 
Hail the returning sun." 

PERCIVAL. 

Tuesday, Dec. 1. I was startled from my slum- 
bers last night by the report of a musket under my 
window ; and, seizing my rifle, rushed to the door, 
but could perceive no one near, and only heard, in 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 109 

the darkness, the sound of retreating footsteps. The 
mystery was soon explained : the convicts had es- 
caped from prison, and the sentry, posted near my 
residence, had fired upon them as they rushed past. 
Several of the guard went immediately in pursuit, and 
succeeded in apprehending two; but seven others, 
favored by the darkness and storm of the night, had 
cleared the town. 

It appeared, on investigation, that the sentry, post- 
ed at the prison, had stolen the keys from the guard- 
room, where they were kept, unlocked the outer and 
inner doors, and then run himself with the convicts. 
Another sentry, by a preconcerted plan, had also 
joined them. Only one prisoner remained in the 
apartment which had been unlocked. When asked 
by me why he did not run, he said he w^ould not be 
seen running from Tophet in such company. This 
was the funny fellow who stole the money. One of 
those who escaped, was a great overgrown Califor- 
nian — a monstrous mass of flesh and bone. He had 
been shot in the leg in a previous fray, and always 
affected the cripple, hobbling about on huge crutches, 
which fairly bent under him. But last night, when 
his pursuers were close on his trail, he bounded for- 
ward like a rabbit. Crutches, and all occasion for 
them, had been left behind. You would have thought 
some shape of air were flitting before you, but for the 
heavy puffs which heaved, at brief intervals, from his 
laboring trunk. An innocent man escaping from 
violence has often a hard time of it, but a felon es- 

10 



110 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

caping from justice much harder ; his guilty con- 
science will long keep the pursuer at his heels. 

Wednesday, Dec. 2. A party, well mounted and 
armed, started this morning in pursuit of the con- 
victs. They overtook one of them and the two sen- 
tries about twenty miles distant. The sentries still 
had their arms, which they surrendered, and delivered 
themselves up without resistance. The convict was 
shot down through the impetuosity of one of the 
party. There is a degree of ferocity in shooting 
down an unarmed man at which humanity revolts. 
We can hardly find an apology for it, even in the 
brutal instincts of the savage. The fate of the two 
sentries concerned in liberating the prisoners whom 
they were posted to guard, is uncertain. If tried by 
a court-martial, their sentence will be death ; if 
delivered over to the civil authority, they will be 
sentenced to the public works for a long term of 
years. 

Thursday, Dec. 3. The convict Edwards, found 
with the two sentries, and who had been shot after he 
had surrendered, w^as left in a dying condition on the 
public road. My constable left this morning to find 
him, but was unable to cross the Salinas river on ac- 
count of the freshet, and its extreme rapidity. His horse 
got frightened and refused to swim him over. He 
fastened him on this side, and, divesting himself of 
his hat, shoes, and coat, plunged in ; but the current, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. Ill 

after sweeping him down a mile or more, landed him 
on the same side from which he had started. 

He is a man of great humanity as well as com'age 
and resolution, and it was not with his consent that 
Edwards was left at night-fall, wounded and dying, 
exposed to a pitiless storm, and to be devoured by 
wild beasts. It was inhuman to leave him in this con- 
dition, when he might have been brought in, or taken 
to some house in the neighborhood. Those in fault, 
now that the wrong has been done, and is irretrieva- 
ble, would gladly veil it from the public eye. There 
is a tongue in cruelty, which those who inflict it can 
never silence. It will speak out and awaken pangs 
in the most callous conscience. If we have no mercy 
on others, how can we expect it for ourselves in that 
day when we most need it ? 

" Teach me to feel another's woe, 
To hide the faults I see ; 
The mercy I to others show, 
That mercy show to me," 

Friday, Dec. 4. The moment a child is born on 
a farm in California, and the nurse has had time to 
dress it, it is given to a man on horseback, who, with 
its future godfather and godmother, ride post-haste 
with it to some mission, and present it to a priest for 
baptism. This ceremony concluded, the party, full 
of glee, start on their return ; and the little new- 
comer may now, perhaps, rest a week or two before 
he starts ^on another excursion ; but after that, hardly 



1 12 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

a day will elapse without his being on horseback. 
He literally rides from his cradle to his grave. Thus, 
by the time a boy is ten or twelve years of age, he 
becomes an expert rider, is devoted to the saddle, anA 
looks upon pedestrial motion as a contemptible way 
of getting through the world. He would sooner 
travel a hundred miles on horseback than ten on 
foot, and connect less fatigue and hardship with the 
result. Most of his labors, too, are on the saddle. He 
has a farm of twenty or thirty miles to ride over ; 
vast wheat-fields to survey, and, perhaps, ten thou- 
sand head of cattle to keep from straying. He would 
have but little time for repose if he went by steam. 

Saturday, Dec. 5. Of all the w^omen I have had 
to deal with here the washer-women are the most 
unmanageable. Two of them entered my o^ce to- 
day as full of fight as the feline antagonists of Kil- 
kenny. It seems they had been out washing in one 
of the little pools created by the recent showers, 
when one had taken that part of the margin previous- 
ly occupied by the other. War offensive and defen- 
sive immediately commenced. One drew a knife, 
which had a blade two mortal inches in length, and 
the other a sharp ivory bodkin. But what their 
weapons wanted in terror and strength their ungentle 
anger supplied. 

At last one cried out, "the alcalde;" the other 
echoed it, and so they both rushed down to the office 
to have their difficulties settled. Both of course 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 113 

commenced talking at the same time ; and their 
stories ran together like two conflicting rivulets 
forced into the same channel. There was plenty of 
tumult and bubble. When these had a little sub- 
sided, I began cautiously to angle for the truth — a 
difficult trout to catch in such waters. But one 
darter after another was captured, till I had enough 
to form sonie opinion of those that had escaped. 
These we discussed till bitter feeling, like biting 
hunger, became appeased. The rest was very easily 
settled. Both went away declaring either margin of 
the pool good enough, and each urging on the other 
the first choice. 

How gentle is forgiveness ! and how sweet 
To feel the severed heart flow back again 
To one we loved, estranged by hasty words ! 

r 

Sunday, Dec. 6. Mr. Sargent, who came out in 
the Congress in the capacity of clerk to the purser, 
and who had been left here several weeks since for 
the restoration of his mind and health, was missed 
from his quarters on Tuesday last. He has been la- 
boring for some time under mental aberrations which 
wear a reasoning show, and which alarm only the 
close observer. His amiable disposition and exem- 
plary life exempted him from all reproach, and have 
excited a general sympathy and concern for his un- 
certain fate. He was last seen winding his way 
through the forest which skirts Monterey, towards a 
ledge of rocks which overhangs the boiling surf of 
10* 



114 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the bay. I have traversed the beach for miles, and 
watched each swell as it rolled in, to see if it bore 
on its crest aught like a human form. But nothing 
came to the shore or eddied in the surge, to resolve 
mystery and give a painful certainty to doubt. The 
sea itself is an awful mystery, and becomes doubly so 
when the fate of one we loved is locked in the 
tongueless silence of its unfathomed depths. 

The waves tell not the fate of those 
On whom their hasty waters close ; 
But deeper still their secrets spread, 
That travel with their drifting dead. 

Monday, Dec. 7. The simplest article for the 
table is often beyond the reach of your money here. 
I have found it so difficult to procure a few eggs, 
when required, that I have at last gone to keeping 
hens. I purchased six of an Indian woman for six 
dollars, and a rooster for fifty cents. On asking the 
woman why she charged only half price for the 
rooster, she replied that the fellow laid no eggs, 
and as for his crowing that did nobody any good. 
Sounder reasons than these could not be furnished in 
a much higher place than a hencoop. The habits of 
these hens are a little singular. They are perfectly 
tame, and are as much at home in the kitchen as the 
cook. They never trouble themselves much about 
a nest, but deposite their eggs where they find it 
most convenient ; one takes the tea-tray, another the 
ironing-table, a third the oven, and there is one that 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 115 

always gets into the cradle. She is not at all dis- 
turbed by the tossing of the little fellow on whose 
premises she is obtruding. Neither she nor any of 
her feathered sisters cackle when they leave the nest. 
They don't seem to think that any thing worth ma- 
king an ado about has come to pass. The rooster, it 
is true, perks up a little, and perhaps feels a feather 
taller. But this is the vanity of his sex. There 
are a great many who crow over what others have 
done. 

Tuesday, Dec. 8. The banditti, that have hov- 
ered for some weeks past in the vicinity of Monte- 
rey, have made it unsafe to venture out on our hunt- 
ing excursions, unless in sufficient numbers to repel 
an attack. But last evening, the want of exercise, 
and of something to relieve the endless monotony of 
beef on the table, induced me forth. I took my boy, 
and put into his hands one of Colt's revolving rifles, 
and took myself the fowling-piece. We had hardly 
got a mile from town, when two horsemen broke 
from the covert of the woods, and dashed down in our 
direction. I had but little more than time to exchange 
pieces with my boy, w^ien they were within rifle-shot. 
Their garb showed them to be Californians. My 
heart beat a great deal louder than usual. But they 
suddenly wheeled, and soon disappeared behind one 
of the hills ^vhich look out on the bay. They had no 
arms, except pistols at the saddle-bow. Whether 
tliey had hostile intentions, I know not : their move- 



116 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ments had very much that appearance ; and I must 
say I never before experienced so fully those feelings 
men describe in going into battle. They are not fear 
so much as an intensity of excitement, which seems 
as if it would suffocate life : it is dispelled with the 
first gun. I had once occasion to repel an exaspe- 
rated Spaniard with a pistol, and though I had antici- 
pated his attack, was prepared for it, and believed 
that the aim of the pistol would make him sheath his 
knife ; still there was for a moment an inten&ity of 
feeling that would, if prolonged, destroy one. We 
continued our hunting, but changed our ground to the 
vicinity of the sea, and brought home a dozen curlew, 
which almost rival in flavor the canvas-back duck. 

Wednesday, Dec. 9. The horses of California are 
of a hardy nature ; and it is well for them that they 
are, considering the inhuman manner in which they 
are generally treated by the natives. . If a man 
wants to ride forty or fifty miles from his residence, 
he mounts his horse,, and spurs off upon the gallop. 
On arriving at the place of his destination, he ties 
him to a post, where he stands two or three days, 
waiting for his master. During this time he is not 
once fed, and is quite fortunate if he gets a swallow 
of water. At last, his rider comes, mounts him, and 
he takes him back again at the same free and easy 
gait with which he first started. This, of course, is 
confined to the summer season, when the grass has 
the most substance and nutriment : still it is almost 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 117 

incredible. Besides the weight of his heavy rider, tnc 
horse generally carries fifty or sixty pounds in the 
gear of his saddle, and double this in a soaking rain. 
It requires two large tanned ox hides to fit out a Cali- 
fornian saddle ; then add to this, the wooden stirrups, 
three inches thick, the saddle-tree, with its stout iron 
rings and buckles, a pair of goat-skins across the 
pommel, holsters and pistols, and spurs at the heels of 
the rider, weighing from four to six pounds, and we 
have some idea of whataCalifornian horse has to carry. 
Still he is cheerful and spirited, and never flags till 
nature sinks with exhaustion. A man who can abuse 
such an animal, ought to be bitted and saddled 
himself. 

Thursday, Dec. 10. The old as well as the young 
are coming over the mountains. I had an emigrant 
to dine with me to-day, who has recently arrived, 
and who is seventy-six years of age. His locks are 
as free of gray hairs as those of a child, and his eye 
still flashes with the fires of youth. He is among the 
volunteers, and you may see him every day on a spir- 
ited horse, with a rifle at his saddle-bow. He has 
four sons with Col. Fremont. They enlisted before 
they had time to unpack their saddles, and have with 
them the remnants of the biscuit and cheese which 
they brought from the United States. I asked the 
old man what could induce him at his age to come 
to California. He said his children were coming, 
and so he determined to come too. I asked him if he 



118 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

had no compunction in taking up arms against the 
inhabitants the moment of his arrival. He said he 
had Scripture example for it. The Israelites took the 
promised land of the East by arms, and the Ameri- 
cans must take the promised land of the West in the 
same way. I told him that would do, if he could 
show the same high commission. But I find this kind 
of parallel running in the imagination of all the emi- 
grants. They seem to look upon this beautiful ^and 
as their own Canaan, and the motley race around 
them as the Hittites, the Hivites, and Jebusites, 
whom they are to drive out. But they have gone at 
it with other weapons than ram's horns, except as 
powder-flasks. 

Friday, Dec. 11. The grizzly bear is the most 
formidable and ferocious animal in California ; and 
yet, with all this ferocity of disposition, rarely attacks 
a man unless surprised or molested. The fellow never 
lies in wait for his victim. If the hunter invades his 
retreat or disputes his path he will fight, but other- 
wise contents himself with the immunity which he 
finds in the wildness of his home and the savage 
grandeur of his nature. It is never safe to attack 
him with one rifle ; for if you fail to hit him in a vital 
part, he is on you in the twinkling of an eye. Your 
only possibility of escape is up a near tree, too slen- 
der for his giant grasp ; and then there is something 
extremely awkward in being on the top of a tree with 
such a savage monster at its root. How long he will 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 119 

remain there you cannot tell ; it may be a day, and it 
may be a week. Your antagonist is too shrewd to 
hand you up your rifle, or let you come down to get 
it. You are his prisoner, more safely lodged than in 
a dungeon, and he will set you at liberty when it 
suits him. He sleeps not himself at his post ; day and 
night his great flashing eyes are fastened upon you. 
The lyre of Orpheus may have lulled to sleep the sen- 
tinel of Hades, but its magic tones have never charmed 
to slumber the sentinel of the California forest. 

The full-grown California bear measures from eight 
to ten feet in length, and four or five in girth. His 
strength is tremendous, his embrace death. Had the 
priest of Apollo fallen into his folds, he would have 
perished without any of those protracted agonies 
which the sympathetic muse has wailed round the 
world. Nature has thrown over him a coat of mail, 
soft indeed, but impervious to the storm and the ar- 
row of the Indian. The fur, which is of a dark brown 
color, is nearly a span long, and when the animal 
is enraged each particular hair stands on end. His 
food in the summer is chiefly berries, but he will now 
and then, on some of his feast days, slaughter a bull- 
ock. In winter he lives on acorns, which abound in 
these forests. He is an excellent climber, and will 
ascend a large oak with the rapidity of a tar up the 
shrouds of his ship. In procuring his acorns, when on 
the tree, he does not manifest his usual cunning. 
Instead of threshing them down like the Indian, he 
selects a well-stocked limb, throws himself upon its 



120 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

extremity, and there hangs swinging and jerking till 
the limb gives way, and down they come, branch, 
acorns, and bear together. On these acorns he be- 
comes extremely fat, yielding ten or fifteen gallons of 
oil, which is said to be sufficiently pungent and nu- 
tritive as a tonic to tuft a statue's marble head. 

The she bear has one peculiarity that must puzzle 
even the philosophical inquirer. As soon as she dis- 
covers herself with young, she ceases to roam the 
forest, and modestly retires from the presence of 
others, to some secluded grotto. There she remains, 
while her male companion, with a consideration that 
does honor to his sex, brings her food. She reap- 
pears at length with her twin cubs, and woe to the 
luckless wight who should attempt to injure or molest 
them. They are guarded by an affection and ferocity 
with which it would be madness to trifle. For them 
she hunts the berries, and dislodges the acorns. Her 
maternal care is a beautiful trait in her savage na- 
ture, and 

*' Shines like a good deed in a naughty -world." 




^^^^ 



121 



CHAPTERVIII. 

LITTLE ADELAIDA. COL. FREMONT S BATALLION. SANTIAGO IN LOVE.— 

SENTIMENTS OF AN OLD CALIFORNIAN. THE PRIZE JULIA. FANDANGO. — 

WINTER CLIMATE. PATRON SAINT OF CALIFORNIA. HABITS OF THE NA 

TIVES. INSURRECTION IN THE NORTH. DRAMA IN A CHURCH. POSITION 

OF COM. STOCKTON. 

Saturday, Dec. 12. Our paper, the only one pub- 
lished in California, made its hebdomadal appearance 
again to-day. It is a little fellow, but is half filled or 
more with original matter. A paper is much like an 
infant ; the smaller it is, the more anxious the atten- 
tions which it requires. My partner promised to 
stick by me, but has been the greater part of the time 
since its commencement on the bay of San Fran- 
cisco. He went there to locate a city, but if rumor 
speaks truly, has gone off in quest of his Aphrodite 
before he builds her shrine. I suppose he thinks there 
is but little use in a cage without a bird, but there is 
still less in a bird without a cage. Birds, however, 
always pair before they rear their nests. So that my 
partner is after all in nature's great line, however 
wide it may run from the columns of the Cahfornian. 

Sunday, Dec. 13. I miss very much the light step 
and laughing eye of my little friend Adelaida, the 
infant daughter of our consul, Mr. Larkin. She was 
a sweet child, and beguiled with her gladness, many 

11 



122 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

a moment that had else passed less lightly. But a 
change came over her brightness, an eclipse whose 
shadow passes not. We watched its dim veil, and idly- 
dreamed it might still pass, when its faint, inwoven 
light was lost in spreading darkness. She passed 
away like a bird from its clouded bower ; and though 
her flight lay over dark waters, she now sings in the 
purple land of the blest. There no shadows fall, and 
death has no trophies. One eternal spring, with its 
sparkling founts and fragrant blossoms, reigns through 
the vernal year. The soft airs as they stir, wake the 
strings of invisible lyres ; and the tender leaves 
whisper in music. There walk the pure ; there sur- 
vive the meek who wept with us here. They wait 
to welcome our flight to their joys and sinless repose. 
O that I had wings like the dove that I might fly 
away and be at rest ! 

Monday, Dec. 14. It is now two weeks since Col. 
Fremont broke up his encampment in the vicinity of 
San Juan, and commenced his march south. His 
progress has been retarded by a succession of heavy 
rains, and it is feared that some of the rivers which he 
must cross, swollen by torrents from the mountains, 
have been rendered impassable. His horses may 
perhaps swim them, but his artillery and ammunition 
must be floated over on rafts. The construction of 
these, especially where the material is not at hand, 
will occasion long and impatient detentions. The 
condition of the roads, soaked as they are with rain, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 123 

will still further delay his progress ; still, with all 
these drawbacks, we believe he will reach his desti- 
nation. 

He moves upon no idle or vague object. The 
great body of the Californians now in arms are at the 
capital of the southern department, waiting his hos- 
tile arrival. They intend to give him battle, and re- 
deem, if possible, some of the laurels which they lost 
in their precipitate retreat before Com. Stockton. 
Their forces outnumber his two or three to one ; they 
excel them as horsemen, but fall far short of them in 
the dexterous use of the rifle. They want that cool- 
ness, deliberation, self-reliance, and resolute firmness 
which appertain to the character of the Americans. 
We wait the issue of the encounter with a profound 
interest. Com. Stockton may, perhaps, march from 
San Pedro and capture los Angeles, as he has done 
once before ; but with the country around in the pos- 
session of the enemy, and the cattle driven off upon 
distant plains, and the wheat and flour removed into 
the gorges of the mountains, he could not subsist his 
forces. So at least it would seem ; but we shall see. 
It was the prospect of famine that drove Napoleon 
from Moscow. 

Wednesday, Dec. 16. An old Californian, much 
respected for his intelligence and patriotic virtues, 
sent, a few days since, a communication to our paper, 
written in good, vigorous Castilian, and which will 
find an echo in the heart of all the considerate por- 



124 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

tion of the community. He opens his article in these 
words : — 

" The political aspirants in California have inflicted 
upon her since 1836, only a continued succession of 
evils. They have seized all the national property 
and all the missions, as though they were their own 
patrimony. These riches they have distributed with 
a prodigal hand among their satellites ; a multitude of 
officers were created, for whom there was no employ- 
ment; and military grades established more abun- 
dantly than in Paraguay, though with this difference 
in the result. '' Doctor Francia, when he died, left 
eight millions of dollars in the public coffers ; while 
the military chieftains in this country, at the close of 
their brief career, have left the country overwhelmed 
in debt. And now, to gratify their infatuated ambi- 
tion, and secure further plunder, have again hoisted 
the Mexican flag, which they have long hated and 
cursed. The rash step taken by these men at the 
town of the Angeles has only compromised their 
brethren, and ruined many families. The wealth of 
this country consists in cattle and agriculture ; to 
maintain the one and carry on the other, horses are in- 
dispensable ; but these frantic men have driven off the 
horses and cattle to meet the exigencies of war. They 
have given their afflicted country her death-stroke, 
merely because they are not permitted to retain those 
offices which they are not capable of filling. And 
such outrageous ambition is called by them, love of 
country ! If there ever existed a spark of patriotism 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 125 

in their hearts, they would never have attempted the 
slightest revolutionary act. They would have seen 
and felt that it could end only in general disaster and 
ruin." 

Thus writes an old Cahfornian, with the frosts of 
seventy winters on his head. He understands the 
condition of this country, and the character of her 
military chieftains, and has the moral courage to tell 
the world what he thinks. 

Thursday, Dec. 17. The United States brig Julia, 
a prize to the Cyane, left our harbor this morning for 
the southern coast. She is a beautiful vessel, rides 
the water like a duck, and sails with the speed of the 
wind. Her masts rake to an angle that might almost 
startle a Baltimore clipper. She is commanded by 
Lieut. Selden, an officer to whose professional attain- 
ments she may be safely confided. She goes south 
to communicate with Col. Fremont at the Rincon, 
a narrow pass below Santa Barbara. The colonel's 
route will lead him through this pass, which lies 
hemmed in between the bluff of a mountain range 
and the dashing surge of the sea. A small force can 
defend it against immense odds. Its advantages are 
well known to the Californians. They have often 
in their previous revolutions made a stand here, 
though they have never made it quite a Thermopylae. 
Should they post themselves in this pass, the well- 
trained gun of the Julia may dislodge them, or, at 
least, act in concert with Col. Fremont on his arri- 

11* 



126 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

val. A man wants the eyes of Argus in this Cali- 
fornia war. 

Friday, Dec. 18. The ladies of Monterey have 
so many relatives, near and remote, involved in the 
issue of the war, that they have had but little heart 
for their customary amusements. But time, which 
assuages grief, has slowly quelled a sense of peril, and 
they are gradually coming back into their more gay 
and social element. The lively tones of their gui- 
tars salute you from their corridors, and often the 
fandango shakes its light slipper in the saloon. It has 
been customary here for a person giving a dance to 
apply to the alcalde for a permit, which was never 
refused, and which always brought to the purse of 
this functionary three dollars in the shape of a fee. 
A similar application was made to me a few days 
since. To grant it would be to sanction the fan- 
dango ; to refuse it would be an arbitrary exercise of 
power. Tack which way I would, I must run on a 
rock, so I determined not to tack at all, and told the 
applicant I had nothing to do with his fiddles, fandan- 
goes, or fees, so long as the public peace was not dis- 
turbed. 

Saturday, Dec. 19. The season is now verging 
towards mid- winter, and we have not yet experienced 
the first wrinkling frost. The hills and valleys, since 
the recent rains, are mantled with fresh verdure, and 
here and there the violet opens its purple eye to the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 127 

sun. The children are out at play, as in J une ; their 
glancing feet are unshod, and their muslin slips but 
half conceal their pulsing limbs. Even the old men, 
from whom the ethereal fires have escaped, are abroad 
in the same garments which covered them in mid- 
summer. Such is the climate of a California winter, 
or, at least, its interludes, and these will continue to 
visit us like sunbows between the showering clouds. 

Monday, Dec. 21. The house of the humbler Cali- 
fornian has often but one apartment, and is without 
fireplace or floor. Here a family of ten or fifteen 
tumble in and sleep on the ground. If they have 
guests, which is often the case, they turn in among 
the rest. The thicker they lie, of course the less 
covering they need. The walls of this promiscuous 
dormitory are formed of rough piles, driven in the 
ground, just sufficiently to support a roof that is 
thatched with flag. Through the chinked piles the 
night- wind whistles in gusty glee ; through the roof 
the star-light falls in broken flakes. The shower- 
cloud often pauses over it, and, as if in wanton mis- 
chief, empties its floating cistern. But little heed the 
sleepers these freaks of the elements : they have been 
familiar with them from their birth. The only beings 
that seem at all disturbed are the fleas ; but they still 
manage to dodge the shower-drops and secure their 
nocturnal repast. Those on whom they commit their 
depredations spring no rattle, raise no cry of alarm. 
The ttvef is there, but they know it not. Habit has 



128 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

exempted them from even a perception of their 
wrongs. Happy flea of California ! 

"When night-birds fill with waking numbers 

The star-ht pauses in the storm, 
He deftly springs where Beauty slumbers, 

And feasts on her seraphic form. 

She httle knows who shares her pallet. 

Has heard no lover lift the latch, 
And, waking, only hears the ballet 

Danced by rain-drops on her thatch. 

Were all our ills which others tell us, 

And all that darken fancy's dream, 
Confined to those we knew befell us. 

How few our real woes would seem, 

Tuesday, Dec. 22. A courier arrived last evening 
from the north, with the startling intelligence that 
forty or fifty mounted Californians had sallied from 
the hills in the vicinity of San Francisco, and cap- 
tured several Americans ; among them Mr. Bartlett, 
chief magistrate of that jurisdiction. Capt. Weber, 
as soon as the news reached him on his station at 
San Jose, started with fifty mounted volunteers in 
pursuit ; and fifty more have left Monterey this morn- 
ing under the command of Capt. Maddox. One party 
is to come down upon them from the north, and the 
other is to cut off their retreat to the south. The 
plan is well laid, and we shall know in a few days if 
it has been executed with any decisive results. 

Wednesday,; Dec. 23. It becomes us to keep a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 129 

pretty sharp look-out here, or another hostile party 
may take advantage of the absence of the forces 
under Capt. Maddox, and pay us a flying visit. No 
one here can tell when these visits are to be expected ; 
w^hen you feel most secure, they are, perhaps, nearest 
the door. In all other lands, war bears on its front 
such a flaring banner that you see its terrific insignia 
long before you feel its presence ; but here, it comes 
Hke the descent of the eagle from his mountain eyrie 
— you hear not his pinions till they beat the air in his 
reascending : you look for the milk-white lamb that 
frolicked in your flock, and it is gone. Peril here, 
like death, borrows half its terrors from the secrecy 
in which it wraps its footsteps. 

Thursday, Dec. 24. As soon as the sun had gone 
down, and .twilight had spread its sable shadows over 
the hills and habitations of Monterey, the festivities 
of Christmas Eve commenced. The bells rang out a 
merry chime ; the windows were filled with stream- 
ing light ; bonfires on plain and steep sent up their 
pyramids of flame; and the sky-rocket burst high 
over all in showering fire. Children shouted ; the 
young were filled with smiles and gladness ; and the 
aged looked as if some dark cloud had been lifted from 
the w^orld. 

While the bonfires still blazed high, the crowd 
moved towards the church ; the ample nave w^as soon 
filled. Before the high altar bent the Virgin Mother, 
in wonder and love, over her new-born babe ; a com- 



130 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

pany of shepherds entered in flowing robes, with 
high wands garnished with silken streamers, in which 
floated all the colors of the rainbow, and surmounted 
with coronals of flowers. In their wake followed a 
hermit, with his long white beard, tattered missal, 
and his sin-chastising lash. Near him figured a wild 
hunter, in the skins of the forest, bearing a huge trun- 
cheon, surmounted by an iron rim, from which hung 
in jingling chime fragments of all sonorous metals. 
Then came, last of all, the Evil One, with horned 
frontlet, disguised hoof, and robe of crimson flame. 
The shepherds were led on by the angel Gabriel, in 
purple wings and garments of light. They ap- 
proached the manger, and, kneeling, hymned their 
wonder and worship in a sweet chant, which was 
sustained by the rich tones of exulting harps. The 
hermit and hunter were not among them ; they had 
been beguiled by the Tempter, and were lingering at 
a game of dice. The hermit seemed to suspect that 
all was not right, and read his missal vehemently in 
the pauses of the game ; but the hunter w^as troubled 
by none of these scruples, staked his soul, and lost ! 
Emboldened by his success, the Tempter shoved him- 
self among the shepherds ; but here he encountered 
Gabriel, who knew him of old. He quailed under 
the eye of that invincible angel, and fled his presence. 
The hermit and hunter, once more disenthralled, paid 
their penitential homage. The shepherds departed, 
singing their hosannas, while the voices of the whole 
assembly rose in the choral strain. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 131 

Friday, Dec. 25. At our last advices, Com. Stock- 
ton was at San Diego; the Congress and Cyane 
had been warped into the harbor, and a large portion 
of the officers and crews were in camp near the town. 
The Cahfornians were in possession of the country, 
and often presented a formidable force on the sur- 
rounding hills. They were well mounted, and had it 
in their power to dash down at night on the camp of 
the commodore. Still, it was of the utmost impor- 
tance to maintain this position ; but aggressive move- 
ments were deemed here impracticable, The idea 
has never been seriously entertained here, that the 
commander-in-chief could march a body of seamen 
and marines, drilled into an infantry, to los Angeles, 
in the face of the flying-artillery of the Californians ; 
and still less that he could subsist his forces there 
with all the resources of the country in the hands of 
the enemy. The war here is not on a great scale, 
but it impinges, at certain points, with terrific energy. 
It is not always the magnitude of the field and of the 
interests at issue, which test most severely the re- 
sources of the general. This California war has to 
be carried on by means which requires consummate 
tact, coolness, and courage. A few weeks more will 
decide the fate of the southern department, and with 
that, the whole tide of affairs here. That department 
lost in the pending engagement, our northern posi- 
tions will be put in imminent peril. It is an idle 
dream to suppose the Californians will not fight ; give 
them faithful and competent leaders, and they evince 



132 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

a dashing bravery which lifts them immeasurably- 
above contempt. He who presumes on their timidi- 
ty will learn his error when it may be too late. 

Saturday, Dec. 26. It is an old custom here for 
the shepherds, when they have performed their sacred 
drama in the church, to repeat it, during the holy- 
days, in the residences of some of the citizens. One 
of the first personages to whom they pay their re- 
spects is the chief magistrate of the jurisdiction ; I 
was accordingly saluted this evening with their fes- 
tive compliment. 

The large hall, occupying the centre of the build- 
ing, was sufficiently ample to accommodate them, and 
some fifty gentlemen and ladies as spectators. They 
brought their own orchestral accompaniment, which 
consisted entirely of violins and guitars. Their pre- 
lude had so many sweet harmonies that the listener 
determined to listen on. The dialogue and chant of 
the shepherds would have awakened their appropriate 
associations, but for the obtrusions of the hermit, hun- 
ter, and devil, who now gave- much freer scope to 
their characteristic peculiarities than they did in 
church. The hermit forgot that his lash was intend- 
ed for himself, and began to use it on others. The 
hunter left off snaring birds, and commenced setting 
springes to catch Satan ; but his intended victim not 
bnly managed to escape, but to decoy the hunter 
himself into his own net. The hermit tried to disen- 
chant him through the power of his missal ; but this 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 133 

having no effect, he threatened to chastise the subtle 
author of the mischief, but wanted some one to seize 
and hold him, for fear his horn, hoof, or tail might 
come in conflict with the hfe-glass. During this 
side-acting, the dialogue and chant of the shepherds 
went on, though it would be difficult to conceive of 
any two things more wide asunder in their spirit and 
effect. The whole was concluded with the riata- 
dance, by the shepherds, who executed its airy move- 
ments with a lightness and precision of step that 
would have thrown enchantment on any occasion 
less sacred in its associations than the present. 
12 



134 



CHAPTER IX. 

DAY OF THE SANTOS INNOCENTES. LETTING OFF A LAKE. — ARRIVAL OF THE 

DALE WITH HOME LETTERS. THE DEAD YEAR. NEWLY-ARRIVED EMI- 
GRANTS. — EGG-BREAKING FESTIVITIES. — CONCEALMENT OF CHAVES. 

PLOT TO CAPTURE THE ALCALDE. 

Sunday, Dec. 27. The dramatic shepherds have 
just passed my door on their way to the mansion of 
Gen. Castro, where they are to perform their pas- 
torals. Their drama is ill suited to the sacredness of 
the Sabbath : its grotesque appendages, in the person 
of the wild hunter and apocalyptic dragon, are but lit- 
tle short of a burlesque on the devotional chant of the 
shepherds. Indeed, there is not a truth connected 
with man's redemption which can derive any force 
from scenic representation. Every passage in the 
life of the Redeemer, every act that he performed, and 
every precept that he inculcated, are invested with a 
solemnity which should exempt them from the attempts 
of dramatic art. They have a significancy and force 
which transcend the evanescent triumphs of the stage. 
The tragedy of the Cross stands alone ; no human 
passion can approach it ; it is shielded in its sorrows 
by the divinity of the sufferer ; its love overwhelmed 
angels ; its agony awoke the dead. 

Monday, Dec. 28. This is the festival day of the 
Santos Innocentes, and is devoted by the lovers of 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 135 

fun to every kind of harmless imposition on the sim- 
phcity of others. The utmost ingenuity is exercised in 
borrowing, for every article lent has to be redeemed. 
Although aware of this, still, in a moment of forget- 
fulness, one succeeded in borrowing my spurs. A 
gentleman, who has lived here from his boyhood, lent 
his cloak, another his saddle and bridle, and a third 
his guitar. Two ladies performed feats that would 
have been difficult on any day. One borrowed mo- 
ney of a broker, and the other a rosary of a priest. 
It is rumored, but not credited, that a client has in- 
duced his lawyer to allow his case to be amicably 
adjusted ; that a patient has actually persuaded his 
physician to permit the aid of nature in throwing off 
his disease ; and that a customer has made a shop- 
keepei confess an imperfection in his wares. It is said, 
but donbted, than an old Spanish hidalgo, after being 
told that his son is engaged in marriage to a peasant 
girl, w'd\ probably sleep before he disinherits him. It 
is also said, though few believe it, that a wife, whose 
huelrand is going to sea, has consented that he shall 
take the family breeches with him. It is further 
stated, but on no good authority, that a political par- 
tizan has hesitated about voting for his candidate on 
account of his having been once sentenced to the 
penitentiary for sheep-stealing. Several other ru- 
mors are afloat, but they are not credited. One is, 
that a disappointed lover has persuaded himself that 
his suit has been rejected without any parental inter- 
ference ; another is, that a young collegian has writ- 



136 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ten a letter to his grandmother without quoting a 
word of Greek ; another is, that a young clergy- 
man has composed an entire sermon without anything 
about 

"Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute." 

Another is, that a man of giant intellect and profound 
erudition has selected as his life-partner a woman of 
sense ; another, that a lady who has had an offer of mar- 
riage and rejected it, has kept it to herself; another, 
that an old bachelor has come to the conclusion that 
he is less captivating with the girls than he was when 
younger ; another, that a young military officer has 
taken tea with his aunt without having on his regi- 
mentals ; that a midshipman has entertained a lady 
fifteen minutes without a gale or disaster ; that a sex- 
ton had been seen shedding a tear ; that a Mormon 
has confessed Joe Smith's Bible a little less authentic, 
from the absence of the original plates ; that a Mil- 
lerite has forgiven a debt, on account of the nearness 
of the last conflagration ; that a mesmerite, on account 
of the death-intelligence conveyed by his clairvoyant, 
has gone into mourning ; that an Englishman has been 
seen with a smile on his countenance without a plum- 
pudding in his stomach ; that an American has said 
grace at his table without stopping to expectorate ; 
that a Frenchman has stopped his prattle before death 
had stopped his breath ; and, finally, that a new moon, 
with a drooping horn, has been followed by a dry 
month. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 137 

While these incredible rumors were afloat, the 
public ear was startled with the intelligence that a 
large ship had been driven on the rocks, just behind 
Point Pinos. The whole population rushed at once 
in that direction, — the women to see her go to pieces, 
the men to seize her cargo, and a widow, who has a 
son at sea, to save the sailors. But the ship proved 
to be the " Flying Dutchman," with phantom hull and 
masts, and sails through whose gossamer the setting 
sun poured its effulgent beam. Some laughed as the 
spectral fabric dissolved, some grieved in silence over 
their loss, and one old wrecker hung himself with 
disappointment. Thus ended the day of the Santos 
Innocentes. 

Tuesday, Dec. 29. During the rains which pre- 
vail at this season of the year, a multitude of small 
streams rush from the hills which encircle Monterey 
into the lagoon which lies in the vicinity of the town. 
This natural basin, replenished by these foaming rivu- 
lets, presented this week quite a deep and spacious 
lake, and began to threaten with inundation the 
buildings upon its margin. As it lay several feet 
above the level of the sea, with only an intervening 
ridge of sand, it occurred to me that it would be a 
good scheme to cut a channel between the two. 
The work was easily accomplished ; but my channel 
of two feet soon widened to forty, and the whole 
lake came rushing down in a tremendous torrent. 
It swept every thing before it, and carried two boats, 
12* 



138 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

which lay on the beach, so far out to sea that they 
have not been seen or heard of since. Even the 
sea-birds, that have dashed about here among the 
breakers ever since they got out of their eggs, seemed 
frightened, and took wing. Their screams came 
back on the wind Hke the howHng of wild beasts on 
a sinking wreck. The lake disappeared ; its waters, 
where the stars had mirrored themselves in tranquil 
beauty, went off to join the roaring ocean, and left 
on its sandy bottom only a few floundering fish. How 
tame is a lake when its bottom is laid bare ! It is 
like the heart of a coquette when the illusions of love 
have fled. 

Wednesday, Dec. 30. The phantom ship, which 
rounded into our harbor a few weeks since, and de- 
parted without token or sign, turns out to be a good 
sound oak reality, in the shape of a sloop-of-war, hon- 
ored with the name of Dale, bearing the stars and 
stripes, and commanded by Wm. W. M'Kean. She 
sailed from New York on the 6th of June, and has 
stopped on her way out at Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, 
Callao, Payta, and Mazatlan. She has brought a 
large mail for the Pacific squadron. What an eager 
breaking of seals there will be ! 

I am indebted to her for a large package of letters, 
and for the receipt of one which was written several 
weeks after she sailed. It was dispatched alone to 
Jamaica, thence by the mail steamer to Chagres, 
thence over the Isthmus to Panama, and thence by 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 139 

the steamer to Callao, and then to Lima. Here it 
came into the care of my esteemed friend, Mr. M'Call, 
who forwarded it by the Dale. It brings me the in- 
telligence of the birth of a son, and of the safety and 
happiness of a young mother over her first-born. 
Had this letter, in one of the many mischances to 
which it was exposed, failed of reaching me, months 
might have passed away without any intelligence to 
relieve my solicitude. There is a Providence, whose 
care extends to the condition of each one. Not a spar- 
row falls to the ground without his notice. But a long 
interval of waning moons must pass, and half the 
earth's circuit be traversed, before I can see that infant 
being whose dawning light has shed a gladness on my 
hearth. ^In this slow lapse of time w^hat changes may 
betide, what fearful shadows may fall ! 

" My child, my child ! when I shall reach my door, 
If heavy looks should tell me thou art dead, 
It seems as I should struggle to believe 

Thou wert a spirit, to this nether sphere 
Sentenced for some more venial crime to grieve ; 
Didst sigh, then spring to meet Heaven's quick reprieve , 
While we wept idly o'er thy little bier !" Coleridge. 

Thursday, Dec. 31. Com. Stockton is still en- 
camped near San Diego, expecting to march in a few 
days for the town of the Angels. He has under his 
command detachments from the crews of the Con- 
gress, Cyane, and Portsmouth, with some thirty vol- 
unteers, and has with him several pieces of artillery. 
His plan evidently is, to attack the position of the 



140 I'KREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Californians from the south at the same time that 
Col. Fremont comes down upon them from the north. 
Hemmed in by these encountering forces, they will 
be obliged to surrender, or attempt a disastrous flight. 
Public expectation is on the tip-toe to learn the re- 
sult ; but several days must elapse before it can be 
known here. 

Friday, Jan. 1. Last night, while the sentinel 
stars were on their mid-watch, the old year resigned 
its sceptre, and departed amid the wailing hours to 
join the pale shadows of the mighty past. The strong 
winds, awaking in grief, shook the forest leaves from 
their slumbers, and poured from cloud and cliff their 
stormy dirge. 

" As an earthquake rocks a corse 

In its coffin in the clay, 
So white Winter, that rough nurse, 

Rocks the death-cold year to-day : 
Solemn hours ! wail aloud. 
For your mother in her shroud." Shelley. 

But nature never leaves the throne of time vacant. 
An heir to her wide domain was invested at once 
with the imperial purple, while woods and water-falls, 
the organ cloud and the sounding sea, sung his coro- 
nation hymn. The great tide of time moved on as 
before, rolling in events pregnant with the fate of 
nations. But men, blind to these momentous issues, 
hail the eventful year — in which perhaps their own 
coffins swing — with egg-nog ! Out on their frivolity ! 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 141 

Their mirth is the bubble that paints the rainbow on 
Niagara's thundering verge. 

Sunday, Jan. 3. The deceased year is in its grave, 
but its deeds remain. But few of them, it is true, are 
to be found in the archives of earth ; they have been 
sealed up and transmitted, by invisible hands, to 
Heaven's high chancery. There they will remain, 
above the ranges of time and the wreck of worlds. 
When the sun's last ray has expired, every line and 
letter will flash out in characters of living light. It 
will then be seen that our minutest action here 
touches a string that will vibrate forever in the soul ; 
and that issues of happiness or woe, vast as eternity, 
take their rise in the silent pulses of a hidden thought. 
We live between two worlds ; every impulse we take 
from this throws an action into the infinitude of the 
next ; we follow it ourselves soon and fast : once be- 
yond the dim veil, we return no more ; not a whisper 
comes back to those we love. We have gone like a 
shooting-star over the steep verge of night. 

Monday, Jan. 4. It is mid-winter, and yet the 
robins are all out, singing as if the buds of May were 
bursting around them. You miss none of your fa- 
vorites in meadow or grove. Hill and vale are echo- 
ing with their wild numbers. This is not a gush of 
music that is to be followed soon by silence ; it is 
not an interval of sun-light that is to be succeeded 
by cloud and hail. All these charms belong to the 



142 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

season, and make you forget that it is winter. You 
look to the sun, and see that he circles indeed far to 
the south ; but you look around you and find the spark- 
ling streams unfettered by frost, and hear the whistle 
of the ploughman as he breaks the glebe. You say 
to yourself, there is no winter in California. 

Tuesday, Jan. 5. Many of the emigrants who 
have recently arrived, are now with Col. Fremont at 
the south. By enlisting in this campaign, they will 
have an opportunity of seeing every important part 
of California, and will be able to locate themselves 
with some confidence in their selection of grounds. 
This will compensate them in some degree in fore- 
going their first year's tillage. Besides, they generally 
arrive here with very little means beyond their own 
enterprise. They are now receiving twenty-five 
dollars a month, and have but few temptations for 
spending it ; they will consequently find themselves 
in funds, small to be sure ; but there is a period in 
almost every man's life when a penny takes the im- 
portance of a pound. " It is more difficult," said the 
late Stephen Girard, " to make the first hundred dol- 
lars, than the next thousand." But with all due defer- 
ence to that eminent economist, I have found it 
extremely difficult to make either, and when made, 
still more difficult to keep it. It has slipped out of 
my hands like a squirming eel in its slime. But this 
has very little to do with the emigrants. They will, 
it is hoped, soon be able to return to their families, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 143 

who are now scattered about in the missions, and in 
shanties on the Sacramento, without the comforts of 
Hfe. They have suffered greatly from being massed 
together in these temporary lodgments ; and have 
often, no doubt, wished themselves where they came 
from. The pioneers of civilization have always a 
rough path. They force the bear from his covert, 
not to make room for a palace, but that they may 
themselves take his jungle. 

Wednesday, Jan. 6. As I was sitting in the 
house of an old Californian to-day, conversing very 
quietly about the condition of the country, I felt some- 
thing break on my head, and, starting around, dis- 
covered two large black eyes, lighted with their 
triumph. It flashed upon me, that the annual egg- 
breaking festival here had commenced. The rules of 
this frolic do not allow you to take offence, whatever 
may be your age or the gravity of your profession : 
you have only one alternative, and that is, to retaliate 
if you can. You have not to encounter the natural 
contents of the egg — these are blown out ; and the 
shell is filled with w^ater, scented with cologne, or la- 
vender ; or more often, wdth gold tinsel, and flashing 
paper, cut into ten thousand minute particles. The 
tinsel is rubbed by a dash of the hand into your hair, 
and requires no little combing and brushing to get it 
out. Ladies wall work at it for hours, and find some 
of the spangles still remaining. When a liquid is 
used, the apertures are closed with wax, so that the 



144 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

belligerent may carry it about his person. The an- 
tagonist is always of the opposite sex. You must 
return these shots, or encounter a railery, which is 
even worse. Having finished my chat, I bade my 
good old Californian friend, and his daughter, my 
egg-shell opponent, good morning ; but turned into a 
shop, procured an egg or two, and re-entered the 
mansion of my friend by a side door, where I watched 
for my victim. A few moments brought her along, 
all-unconscious of her danger. I slipped from my 
covert, and, unperceived, dashed the showering egg 
on her head. Her locks floated in cologne. I was 
avenged, and now stood square with the world, so far 
as egg-breaking is concerned. This seems like chil- 
dren's play ; but here you are forced into it in self- 
defence. 

Thursday, Jan. 7. Two or three of the Califor- 
nians who were engaged against the Americans on 
the Salinas, have since been in town ; among these, 
the leader, Chaves, who was wounded on that occa- 
sion. Many attempts have been made to take him, 
but he has always managed to elude the search. 
Last night, however, he had an extremely narrow es- 
cape. The officer in command of the garrison, hav- 
ing been informed that he was in a particular house, 
silently posted his sentinels around it, and at about 
eight o'clock in the evening unceremoniously entered. 
Quick footsteps were heard here and there, and only 
a part of the ladies were found in the parlor ; but 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 145 

these were calm as moonshine, and extremely polite 
and amiable. 

The officers apologized for their abrupt intrusion, 
and stated, very frankly, what their object was : the 
ladies assured them that they were quite right, and 
they should afford them every facility and aid that 
might lead to the discovery of the obnoxious person. 
They took lights and piloted them through every 
apartment of the house, opening every closet, and 
lifting every bed-curtain. There was no place in 
garret, cellar, kitchen or out-house on which their 
tapers did not shed their light ; but in none could a 
trace of the officer whom they sought be found : so 
they renewed their apologies to the ladies and de- 
parted — when out slipped Chaves from between two 
ladies, who had jumped into a bed for the purpose" of 
concealing him. They had lain there while the 
officers were in the chamber ; their dark locks float- 
ing over the pillows, and their large eyes closed in 
seeming slumber. Between them 

" He had been hid — I don't pretend to say 

How, nor can I, indeed, describe the where : 
Young, slender, and pack'd easily, he lay, 
No doubt, in little compass, round or square " 

Friday, Jan. 8. We have as yet no further in- 
telligence in reference to the party of Californians 
who carried off Mr. Bartlett, of San Francisco. He 
had gone into the country, it seems, to attend to some 
of his official duties, when he was captured, and is 

13 



146 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

now detained as a hostage. I came very near falling 
into a similar trap, a few weeks since. A farmer in 
Santa Cruze had extended his improvements over the 
lands of another, which lay contiguous to his own, 
and it became necessary to go and define the bound- 
aries by the original titles. The day was fixed when 
I was to be there, and the parties interested were 
summoned to appear on the spot. But the night be- 
fore I was to leave, intelligence reached me that an 
armed party of Californians were encamped close to 
the road which I should have taken. But for this 
information, brought in by a citizen of Monterey, I 
should now be sleeping here and there, under the open 
heaven, without a change of apparel, and with ban- 
dits for bed-fellows : on such slender threads hangs 
security here. I have been told by Californians, who 
are my friends, that plans have been laid by their 
countrymen to slip me quietly out of my house at 
night, or entrap me in my hunting excursions, on the 
outskirts of the town. I began to think, last night, 
that this attempt was to be realized. Quick footsteps 
and a loud rap came to my door, followed by an ex- 
cited call for the alcalde. My boy went out, with 
his pistols swung at his side ; but the call proved to 
be an honest one. A shop had been robbed, and a 
warrant was wanted for the arrest of the supposed 
felons. 

Saturday, Jan. 9. How many inventions a 
Californian lady has ! One who was harboring a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 147 

Mexican officer that had broken his parol, wishing 
to do away with all possible suspicion, got up a far 
dango. to which she took special pains to invite all 
the American officers. Such open-door hospitality — 
such challenging of the public eye — threw an air of 
freedom and frankness over her whole house. Every- 
body acquitted her at once of the least shadow of sus- 
picion. But while the violins and guitars were trem- 
bling and thrilling in concert, and the floor of the old 
hall was springing to the bounding measures of the 
fandango, and bright eyes 

" Were looking love to eyes that spake again," 

the Mexican officer was snugly taking a nap in the 
great oven, which, near the cook-house, silently 
loomed into the moonlight. It must have been a long 
nap, for the stars that kept the mid-watch were re- 
lieved before the company broke up. The officer was 
then at liberty to leave his oval dormitory to the 
baker ; and creeping forth, had, no doubt, a good 
laugh with his ingenious hostess over the success of 
the fandango. There is no disguise so deep as that 
which seems to seek none. 

Sunday, Jan. 10. I held service to-day on board 
the U. S. ship Dale. Though on deck, no inconve- 
nience was experienced from the weather. The air 
was soft, and hardly a ripple disturbed the mirror of 
the sea. Capt. McKean, in the absence of a chap- 
lain, reads the service himself He appreciates the 



14S THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

force of moral influences in the government of hi? 
crew, and is well sustained in its exertion by his in- 
telligent officers. It is rarely that you meet with a 
commander in the service who is indifferent to the 
religious character of his crew. If he has no religion 
himself, still he respects it in others, and places his 
greatest reliance where it exerts a controlling influ- 
ence. Religion, wherever possessed, vindicates its 
celestial origin. 

The captain of a whale-ship applied to Mr. Damon, 
of Honolulu, to preach on board his vessel, stating 
very frankly that he had no religion himself, but then 
he wanted his ship to appear " a little decent." Now 
when a captain applies for a religious service to give 
an air of respectability to his vessel, it shows that 
moral truth is in the ascendancy, at least in the dig- 
nity of its claims. There was a time when no such 
expedient was deemed necessary ; but a higher light 
has struck the mariners who float the great Pacific. 
Their hosannas will yet be rolled to heaven in con- 
cert with the loud anthem of her many- voiced waves. 



149 



CHAPTER X. 

DESTRUCTIOX OF DOGS. — THE "WASH-TUB MAIL. — THE SURRENDER IX THE 

NORTH. ROBBING THE CALIFORNIANS. DEATH-SCENE IN A SHANTY. 

THE MEN WHO TOOK UP ARMS. ARRIVAL OF THE INDEPENDENCE. 

DESTITUTION OF OUR TROOPS. CAPTURE OF LOS ANGELES. 

Monday, Jan. 11. I never expected, when thread- 
ing the streets of Constantinople, where dogs inherit 
the rights of citizenship, to encounter such multitudes 
of them in any other part of the world. But Cali- 
fornia is more than a match for the Ottoman capital. 
Here you will find in every little village a thousand 
dogs, who never had a master : every farm-house has 
some sixty or eighty ; and every Indian drives his cart 
with thirty or forty on its trail. They had become 
so troublesome, that an order was given a few days 
since to thin their ranks. The marines, with their 
muskets, were to be the executioners. The order, of 
course, very naturally runs into dog-erels. 

The dogs, the dogs ! my gallant lads — 

Let each one seize his gun, 
And lead the battle's fiery van, 

Though Mars himself should run. 

Remember Lodi's blazing bridge, 

Marengo's shaking plain, 
And Borodino's thunder-clouds, 

Where Cossacks fell like rain. 
13* 



150 niREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Now hurl their howling squadrons down 

To Lethe's silent sliore ; 
They bark so loud, we scarce can hear 

Our sleeping sentries snore. 

Lay low the watch-dog first of all ; 

For he's a saucy loon, 
That bays all night the modest man 

Who figures in the moon. 

Then down the pointer : he it is 

That threads the 'leaves and grass — 
To train the sportman's ready fire 

At some poor luckless ass. 

Then wing the lap-dog, that pert imp 

Befondled by the fair, 
And catching all the tender looks 

Old bachelors should share. 

O'er him, who falls in this dread strife. 

The thunder-clouds shall roll, 
Through shaking cliffs and caverned laills, 

A requiem to his souL 

And dewy stars shall softly bend 

From their celestial bowers, 
To greet the meek-eyed spring, that comes 

To strew his grave with flowers, 

Tuesday, Jan. 12. After three weeks, in which we 
had a cloudless sky and balmy air, the wind has 
hauled into the southeast, and a gentle rain has com- 
menced falling. Its having crept upon us so softly, 
is a symptom that it will continue with us some time. 
The first break of sunshine may be a week hence. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 151 

Wednesday, Jan. 13. We have no intelligence, 
as yet, from the seat of war. The solicitude of the 
public to know the result is at the highest pitch. No 
one doubts that the issue has been very decisive. A 
report reached us to-day that the town of los Angeles 
had been taken by our troops, and that a large por- 
tion of the Californians had laid down their arms. 
This rumor comes through the washerwomen of this 
place. They get their intelligence from the Indians, 
who cross the streams in which they wash their 
clothes. Singular as this sort of mail may seem, it 
very often conveys news, not only with wonderful 
dispatch, but with extraordinary accuracy. 

The first capture of los Angeles, by Com. Stockton, 
was announced here by these washerwomen ; they were 
also the first to spread the intelligence of the breaking 
out of the insurrection at the same place, and knew of 
the retreat of the Americans at San Pedro before any 
other class of people in Monterey. So much for a 
wash-tub mail. You may think lightly of it as of the 
soap-bubbles that break over its rim ; but if you are 
wise you will heed its intelligence. It is an old mail 
that has long; been run in California ; and has an- 
nounced more revolutions, plots, and counterplots, 
than there are mummies in Memphis. Who, in other 
lands, would dream of going to an old woman, wash- 
ing her clothes in a mountain stream, for the first 
tidings of events in which the destinies of nations 
tremble ? Mr. Morse need hardly come here with his 
magnetic machine. One of these women would snap 



152 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the news from a napkin or shirt before his lightning- 
mail had got under way. 

Thursday, Jan. 14. The small party of Califor- 
nians who recently took up arms on the bay of San 
Francisco, soon increased to two hundred. They 
were, with few exceptions, men of the better stamp — 
men who had a permanent interest in the soil, and 
who had refused to join the rash spirits at the south. 
They had captured Mr. Bartlett, the chief magistrate of 
the jurisdiction, and several other Americans, whom 
they held as hostages. 

Capt. Marston, with fifty men from the Savannah, 
and Capt. Maddox, with a company of mounted vol- 
unteers, 'and Capt. Weber, with another band of reso- 
lute spirits, met them. A general and decisive en- 
gagement was anticipated ; but after a few hours of 
pretty sharp fighting, the Californians withdrew from 
Santa Clara, which was entered by our forces. A 
flag of truce was sent in, and the leading spirits on 
both sides assembled under the shadows of a great 
native oak. The Californians stated that they had 
taken up arms, not to make war on the American 
flag, but to protect themselves from the depredations 
of those who, under color of that flag, were plunder- 
ing them of their cattle, horses, and grain ; and that 
on assurance being given that these acts of lawless 
violence should cease, they were ready to return 
quietly to their homes. These demands were not en- 
forced in a spirit of menace, but with that moral 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 153 

firmness which belongs to a deep sense of wrong. 
They w^ere acceded to, and the parties separated, 
never again, I hope, to meet as belhgerents. 

This is a much better mode of settUng differences 
than through the arbitrament of the bayonet. It is 
an easy thing to dislodge a man's argument by dis- 
lodging his Ufe ; but this summary process of getting 
rid of an opponent will generally be followed by 
something worse. There is terror even in the ghost 
of a misdeed. 

Friday, Jan. 15. We have further intelligence 
from the seat of war. General Kearny, with his staff 
and a guard of one hundred dragoons, arrived on the 
6th ult. from New Mexico at San Pasqual, about 
thirty miles from San Diego. Here he encountered 
a hundred and sixty Californians, under Andres Pico, 
well mounted, and armed with rifles and lances. A 
sanguinary engagement ensued, marked by the most 
daring, determined conduct on both sides. Captain 
Johnson, with twelve dragoons, led the charge, and 
was shot dead in the furious onset. Captain Moore, 
with fifty dragoons, rushed to the front : the enemy 
wavered — retreated ; when this gallant officer, with a 
few of his men who were better mounted than the 
the rest, rushed on in pursuit. The enemy suddenly 
wheeled; and now it was hand to hand between 
the heavy sword and lance. Captain Moore, on 
his white charger, was a mark which none could 
mistake. Lance after lance was shivered by his 



154 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

flashing steel, till, at last, he sunk overpowered. All 
this lasted but a few minutes, but long enough to reach 
its tragic results before the remainder of the guard 
could come up. 

The Californians at last retreated, and Gen. Kearny 
encamped on the disputed field. But what a night it 
must have been ! The camp fire threw its pale light 
on the countenances of nineteen, who sprung to their 
saddles at the break of day, but who were now locked 
in the still embrace of death. The burial rites per- 
formed, and another sun in the heavens, the general 
was again on his way. But another hill bristling with 
lances obstructs his march ; it is stormed, carried, 
and here again the weary and the wounded require 
repose. Through the energies of Lieut. Beale, who 
seems ever to be where the hardiest enterprise de- 
mands, a message is conveyed through the beleaguering 
lines of the enemy to the camp of Com. Stockton, 
and a detachment of seamen and marines, under 
Lieut. Gray, of the Congress, is sent out. This fresh 
force obliged the Californians to relinquish their pur- 
pose of another engagement. Had they not arrived, 
it was the intention of Gen. Kearny to cut his way 
to San Diego, be the odds against him what they 
might. His gallant guard had shown the reliance 
which might be reposed in them, by the desperate 
valor which they had already evinced. The conduct 
of Capt. Turner, of Lieut. Emory, and Capt. Gillespie 
might give a feature to any field where life is perilled 
and laurels won; while the muse of history would 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 155 

inscribe her glowing eulogy on the tombs of a John- 
son, a Moore, and a Hammond. They sleep in the 
soil of California, where the undying year 

" Garlands with fragrant flowers their place of rest." 

Saturday, Jan. 16. The depredations complained 
of by those who took up arms in the neighborhood of 
San Francisco, were committed by some of the volun- 
teers, previous to their joining Col. Fremont on his 
present campaign. They are a class of persons who 
have drifted over the mountains into this country from 
the borders of some of our western states. It is a 
prime feature in their policy to keep in advance of 
law and order, and to migrate as often as these trench 
on their irresponsible privileges. Their connection 
with our military operations here is a calamity that 
can only find a relief in the exigencies of war. 

Were their lawless proceedings directed against 
those who are active participators in this revolution, 
the evils which they inflict would have some pallia- 
tion. But the principal sufferers are men who have 
remained quietly on their farms, and whom we are 
bound in honor, as well as sound policy, to protect. 
To permit such men to be plundered under the filched 
authority of our flag is a national reproach. No tem- 
porary triumph can redeem the injuries inflicted, or 
obliterate their stain. But the rash acts committed 
by one portion of the Californians, and the wTongs 
endured by another, are fast drawing to a close. 



156 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Sunday, Jan. 17. As I was passing this morning 
one of the httle huts sprinkled around the skirts of 
Monterey, my steps were arrested by the low moans 
which issued from its narrow door. On entering, I 
found on a straw pallet a mother whom disease had 
wasted to a mere shadow, but whose sufferings w^ere 
now nearly over. She did not notice my entrance, 
or any thing around ; her eyes were lifted, fixed, and 
glassed in death. A slight motion drew my attention 
to another corner of the hut, where I discovered, in 
the dim twilight of the place, a little boy lying on a 
mat, whom I supposed asleep ; his young sister was 
near him, and trying to cross his hands on his breast 
She did not seem to notice me, spake not a word, but 
went on with her baffled task, for the hand which she 
had adjusted would roll off while she was attempting 
to recover the other. Now and then she stopped for 
a moment and kissed the lips which could return 
none, while her tears fell silently on the face of her 
dead brother. In a few minutes two women entered, 
who, it seems, had gone out to call their clergyman 
to administer the last rites to the mother. He was 
too late : her spirit had fled. He spoke to her, called 
her by name — but there was no answer ; he turned 
to the little boy, whispered Raphael, but all was silent 
and still. Directing the women where to procure 
grave-clothes at the expense of the alcalde's office, I 
wended my way home. How little heeds the great 
stream of life the silent rivulets of sorrow which min- 
gle with its noisy tide ! 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 157 

Monday, Jan. 18. It is deeply to be regretted that 
the mihtary operations in California should prevent, 
at this time, an experimental proof of the fertility of 
her soil. The rain that has already fallen is so abun- 
dant, that all the arable land will retain its moisture 
sufficiently to enable the crops to come to maturity. 
But this war has broken up every agricultural arrange- 
ment, and defeated every possibility of a generous 
harvest. The calamity will be felt most severely by 
the emigrants. They arrive here with very slender 
means ; and the idea of paying twenty dollars a barrel 
for flour covers them with dismay. Instead of having 
reached a land of plenty, they hastily conclude that 
they are to suffer the miseries of destitution, and yield 
to a despondency deeper than that which shook the 
faith of the Israelites before their wants were miracu- 
lously supplied. But there is no manna here, and no 
quails, except those which are secured by the hunter's 
skill. The day of miracles is over, even in California. 

Tuesday, Jan. 19. One of my boys caught a dove, 
a few days since, chpped his wing, and placed him in 
our yard, which has a high wall around it. He looked 
very lonely at first, but his mate soon came, hovered 
around on the wall, and finally preferring captivity 
with him to freedom without, flew down to his side. 
How beautiful is that affection which never forsakes 
in adversity, but becomes deeper and stronger as the 
waves of affliction roll higher over the object of its 
sympathy and trust ! 

« 14. 



158 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Wednesday, Jan. 20. There is one feature in our 
military operations here which is far asunder from 
that system of order v/hich appertains to a well-dis- 
ciplined army. Every one who can raise among the 
emigrants thirty or forty men, becomes a captain, and 
starts off to fight pretty much on his own hook. Nor 
is he very scrupulous as to the mode in which he ob- 
tains his horses, saddles, and other equipments. He 
takes them wherever he can find them, and very often 
without leaving behind the slightest evidence by which 
the owner can recover the value of his property. He 
plunders the Californian to procure the means of 
fighting him. Public exigency is the plea which is 
made to cover all the culpable features in the trans- 
action. This may justify, perhaps, taking the prop- 
erty, but it never can excuse the refusal or neglect 
to give receipts. It is due to Com. Stockton and 
Col. Fremont to say, that this has been done without 
their sanction. Still, it reflects reproach on our 
cause, and is a source of vast irritation in the com- 
munity. No man who has any possible means of re- 
press left will tamely submit to such outrages ; and 
yet we expect the Californians to hug this chain of 
degradation, and help to rivet its links. Let foreign- 
ers land on our own coast, and do among us what 
Americans have done here, and every farmer, in the 
absence of a musket, would shoulder his pitchfork 
and flail. Human nature is the same here as there, 
and a sense of wrong will burn as deeply in the one 
place as the other. I utter, for one, my note of re- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 159 

monstrance, though it be as little heeded as the whis- 
pers of a leaf in the roar of a storm-swept forest. 

Thursday, Jan. 21. The scarcity of provisions in 
Monterey continues. Flour is twenty-five dollars 
the barrel, and there is hardly a barrel in the place 
at that. We have in our garrison about a hundred 
and fifty men, and all are on a short allowance of 
bread. There is wheat in the interior, but the mules 
which should be there to grind it have gone to the 
wars. Even that sorry animal seems here not wholly 
insensible to military glory. The trump of fame finds 
an echo even in his long ears. 

Friday, Jan. 22. The flag on the fort informed us 
this afternoon of the approach of a ship within the 
rim of our bay. As she neared, the signals on the 
Dale told her to be an American man-of-war. We 
conjectured at once that she must be the Congress ; 
but as she rounded into her berth we could not re- 
cognize, in her majestic form, the features of our old 
friend. She proved to be the Independence, com- 
manded by Capt. Lavellette, and bearing the broad 
pennant of Com. Shubrick. She sailed from the U. 
States on the twenty-ninth of August, and arrived at 
Rio de Janeiro in fifty-three days ; remained there' 
ten days ; doubled the Cape and reached Valparaiso 
in thirty-four days ; stopped there seven, and reached 
here in thirty-eight. This is splendid sailing ; but 
the Independence is one of the fastest, as well as one 



160 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

of the most powerful ships in our service. Though 
razeed of her carronades, all her effective force re- 
mains. Her battery is a frowning mass of thunder. 
Her officers are men of enterprise and professional 
merit. They have brought a mail, well filled with 
letters and papers, from the United States. If you 
would know the value of a single letter, let an ocean 
roll between you and your home. 

Saturday, Jan. 23. The Independence left the 
Columbus at Valparaiso, under the broad pennant of 
Com. Biddle, who has instructions to favor us here 
with a visit. The Columbus was in want of supplies, 
and would be detained several days in procuring 
them. She had better lay in all she will require, for 
there is nothing here. Unless a transport arrives 
soon, there will not be salt provisions enough on the 
coast to enable our squadron to go to sea two weeks. 
There has not been a transport here for six months ; 
our sailors have been living on fresh meat till they 
hanker for the salt more than they ever did for the 
fresh. As for clothing, they can hardly muster a shirt 
a piece, and one pair of shoes among half a dozen is 
becoming rather a rare sight. This is a hard case, 
when our markets at home are glutted with these ar- 
ticles. The sailor is required to be faithful to the 
government, and the government should be faithful 
to him. He should not be left here barefooted to 
patter about like a duck in shallow water. It is well 
for him that it is a California winter through which 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 161 

he is obliged to pass in his destitution ; in the same 
latitude on the Atlantic he would nearly have per- 
ished. 

Sunday, Jan. 24. It is difficult to make the Cali- 
fornians understand why you will not attend to office 
duties on the Sabbath. The apology that you want it 
as a day of recreation, would be appreciated ; but the 
plea of its sanctity is with many wholly unintelligi- 
ble. If you would make a person respect the Sab- 
bath, you must rear him in its sacred observance. 

Monday, Jan. 25. The wash-tub mail is still fur- 
ther establishing its claims to confidence. Its intelli- 
gence is no bubble breaking over its rim, and evapora- 
ting into thin air ; but a chain of facts carrying with 
them the destinies of a nation. All that has reached 
us through this singular mail is confirmed this morn- 
ing by a California youth who has arrived from 
below. 

He left los Angeles some fourteen days since, and 
states that previous to his departure, Com. Stockton 
had entered the town at the head of the American 
forces from San Diego. He says there had been 
some pretty hard fighting, in which the Californians 
had suffered severely. Col. Fremont, he states, was 
within two days' march of the Pueblo, and in a posi- 
tion to cut off the retreat of the Californians to the 
north. He believes that most of them have surren- 
dered. This intelligence is, in every essential partic- 
14* 



162 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ular, identical with that which reached us several days 
since through the washerwomen of this town. They 
must have obtained it from those who swept through 
to the north when the rout below first commenced. 

Tuesday, Jan. 26. A Californian made me a 
present to-day of a wild goose which he had just 
killed. I value the gift for the giver, rather than any 
benefit it may be to me. I live mostly on mush ; 
such a thing as a wild goose never floats within the 
shadows of my domestic dreams. Even the drum of 
the partridge is rarely heard there. Wild geese pre- 
vail here in the greatest abundance ; every lagoon, 
lake, and river is filled with them. They fly in 
squadrons, which, for the moment, shut out the sun ; 
a chance shot will often bring two or three to the 
ground. The boys will often lasso them in the air. 
This is done by fastening two lead balls, several yards 
from each other, to a long line, which is whirled into 
the air to a great height. In its descent the balls fall 
on opposite sides of the neck of some luckless goose, 
and down he comes into the hands of the urchin 
hunter ; sometimes a pair are brought down, but one 
generally manages to effect his escape. The boy 
little heeds the domestic relation that may have sub- 
sisted between them ; and yet there is something in 
killing the mate of even a goose that might be re- 
lieved in the thought that no other goose loved him. 




<^^^77- ^/^^^C^^^^/'^W 



163 



CHAPTER XI. 

ARRIVAL OF THE LEXINGTON, THE MARCH TO LOS ANGELES, AND BATTLE 

OF SAN GABRIEL. THE CAPITULATION. MILITARY CHARACTERISTICS OF 

THE CALIFORNIANS.. BARRICADES DOWN. 

Thursday, Jan. 28. Our harbor has been en- 
hvened to-day by the arrival of the U. S. ship 
Lexington, commanded by Lieut. Theodorus Bailey, 
an officer that might well have been promoted years 
ago. Capt. Tompkins and his company of one hun- 
dred and forty men, and field train of artillery, are on 
board. She brings out also Capt. Halleck, U. S. En- 
gineer, who is intrusted with the erection of fortifi- 
cations at this place and San Francisco. The Lex- 
ington is laden with heavy battery guns, mortars, 
shot, shells, muskets, pistols, swords, fixed ammunition, 
and several hundred barrels of powder. She has also 
a^quantity of shovels, spades, ploughs, pickaxes, saws, 
hammers, forges, and all the necessary utensils for 
building fortifications of the first class ; and what is 
better still, she brings with her a saw-mill and a 
good grist-mill. 

Friday, Jan. 29. The U. S. ship Dale, W. W. 
McKean commander, sailed to-day for Panama. 
She takes the mail which is to cross the isthmus, and 
reach the United States by the West India steamers. 
As soon as her destination was known, a hundred pens 



164 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

were at work, transferring to paper affections, fond 
remembrances, kind wishes, and a thousand tender, 
anxious inquiries. How absence melts the heart! 
The cold is kindled, the indifferent clothed with in- 
terest, antipathies melt away, and endearments re- 
vive with undying power. I love the very stones 
over which my truant footsteps ran, and could kiss 
the birch rod that chastised my youthful follies. 
What language, then, can portray the love which 
clings to one who throws sunlight through the shad- 
ows of this dark world, or paint the cherished hope 
that buds into being with — 

MY INFANT BOY. 

I have not seen thy face, my child ; 

They say each look and line, 
"Wliich o'er thy father's aspect plays, 

Is mmiatured in thine. 

They tell me that thy infant voice — 

Its wildly warbled tone, 
Seems to thy mother's listening ear 

The echo of my own. 

I know it not, but fondly deem 

That such a thing may be, 
And ti'ust thy father's better hopes 

May long survive in thee. 

I have not seen thy face, my child, 

Though weary moons have set 
Since mine and thy glad mother's eyes 

In tender transport met : — 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 165 

For ere thy being dawned to light, * • 

Or knew what life might mean, 
Our ship had earth's mid circuit swept, 

And oceans rolled between. 

I waft thee back a father's kiss — 

A pledge of that wild joy, 
Which o'er his yearning heart will rush. 

To clasp liis infant boy. 

Saturday, Jan. 30. The long-looked for intelli- 
gence has come at last in an authentic shape. The 
American forces, commanded by Com. Stockton, 
aided by Gen. Kearny, broke camp at San Diego on 
the 29th ult., and took up the line of march for los 
Angeles. Their route lay through a rugged country 
of one hundred and forty miles, drenched with the 
winter rains, and bristling with the lances of the ene- 
my. Through this the commodore led our seamen 
and marines, sharing himself, with the general at his 
side, all the hardships of the common sailor. The 
stern engagements with the enemy derive their he- 
roic features from the contrast existing in the condi- 
tion of the two. The Californians were well mount- 
ed, are the most expert horsemen in the world, and 
whirled their flying-artillery to the most commanding 
positions. Our troops were on foot, mired to the an- 
kle, and with no resource except in their own in- 
domitable resolution and courage. Their exploits 
may be lost in the shadow of the clouds which roll 
up from the plains of Mexico, but they are realities 
here, which impress themselves with a force which 



16G THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

reaches the very foundations of social order. The 
march of the American forces from San Diego to 
the Pueblo below, and their engagements with the 
enemy, are vividly described in a letter to me from 
one of the officers attached to the expedition. This 
writer says : 

" Com. Stockton, at the head of a force amounting to about six 
hundred men, including a detachment of the 1st regiment of U. S. 
dragoons, under Gen. Kearny, left San Diego on the morning of the 
29th of December, for los Angeles. Our line of march lay through a 
rough and mountainous country of nearly one hundi-ed and fifty 
miles, with impediments on every side, and constant apprehensions 
of an attack from the enemy : our progress was nevertheless rapid ; 
and though performed mostly by sailor troops, would have done 
credit to the best disciplhied army. 

" On ihe morning of the 8th of January, we found om-selves, after 
several days' hard marching and fatigue, in the vicinity of the riv«» 
San Gabriel; on the north side of which the enemy had fortifie-* 
themselves to the number of five hundred mounted men, with fot " 
pieces of artillery, uncJer Gen. Flores, and in a position so command 
ing, that it seemed impossible to gain any point by which our troop- 
could be protected from their galling fire. They presented thei*" 
forces in three divisions — one on our right, another on our left, and < 
third in front, with the artillery. On reaching the south side of thf? 
river, the commodore dismounted, forded the stream, and commande(? 
the troops to pass over, which they did promptly under the brisk fire o' 
the enemy's artillery. He ordered the artillery not to unlimber till 
the opposite bank should be gained ; as soon as this was efifected, hir 
ordered a charge directly in the teeth of the enemy's guns, whicl 
soon resulted in the possession of the commanding position they had 
just occupied. The first gun fired was aimed by the commodore beforo 
the charge was made up the hill ; this overthrew the enemy's gun, 
which had just poured forth its thunder in our midst. Having 
gained this important position, a brisk cannonading was kept up foi 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORN'IA. 167 

some time. We encamped on the spot for the night. The next day 
we met the enemy again on the plains of the Mesa, near the cit^'. 
They made a bold and resolute stand ; tried our lines on every side ; 
and mancBuvred their artillery with much skill. But the firm and • 
steady coui-age with which our troops continued to defend them- 
selves, repelled their attempts at a general charge, and we found 
ourselves agaip victorious. We encamped again near th.6- bjijttle- 
ground, and on the morning of the tenth marched into the city, while 
the adjacent hills were ghstening with the lances of the enemy." 



Sunday, Jan. 31. It is sweet in a land of tumult 
and strife to see the Sabbath sun come up. Its 
sacred light melts over the rough aspects of war 
like melting dew down the frontlet of the crouched 
lion. May the spirit of devotion, in its ascending 
flight, bear into a serener element the aspirations of 
the human heart! There let faith, and hope, and im- 
mortal love build their tabernacle. It shall be a 
dwelling for the soul when the palaces, temples, and 
towers of earth are in ruins. Over its gem-inwoven 
roof shall stream the light of stars that never set ; 
flowers that cannot die shall wreath its colonnade, and 
hang in fragrant festoons from its walls ; while the 
voices of streamlets, as they flash over their golden 
sands, shall pour unceasing music on the wandering air. 

Monday, Feb. 1. The forces under Col. Fremont 
were within a few leagues of the town of the Angels 
when Com. Stockton entered it. Their approach cut 
off* the retreat of the Californians to the north. The 
forces of the commodore were on foot, and of course 



168 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

unable to follow up their brilliant successes. The 
enemy were mounted, and might have held the 
country around. If attacked, they had only to re- 
treat, and return again on the retiring footsteps of 
their foes. But at this critical juncture, Col. Fre- 
mont, with his battalion, came down upon them, leav- 
ing them no alternative but to capitulate or attempt 
a disastrous flight into Mexico. They wisely, with 
the exception of a few, determined to abide the con- 
ditions of a treaty. The terms of capitulation are 
couched in a spirit of great liberality and justice. 
One would hardly think that men so amiable and 
confiding in their terms of peace, could have just been 
on the eve of taking each others lives. But this is 
one of those exhibitions of forbearance and generosi- 
ty which not unfrequently relieve the calamities of 
war. 

The articles of capitulation, in substance, were, 
that the Californians shall surrender their arms to 
Col. Fremont, return peaceably to their homes, and 
not resume hostilities during the continuance of the 
war with Mexico ; — that they shall be guarantied the 
protection of life and property, and equal rights and 
privileges with the citizens of the United States. 
These terms were duly subscribed by the commis- 
sioners appointed by the parties to the compact, and 
ratified by Col. Fremont. They were liberal in their 
spirit, wise in their purpose, and just in their applica- 
tion. More rigorous terms would have involved a 
sense of humiliation in one party, without any advan- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 169 

tage to the other. The Cahfornians were defeated, 
but not crushed. They have those saUent energies 
which rebound from misfortune, as their native 
forests sweep back into the face of heaven, when the 
tempest has passed. They never took the field out of 
reverence for the Mexican flag : it was a wild im- 
pulse, deriving its life from a love of adventure, and 
the excitements of the camp. They had had their 
tragedy, acted their part, and were now willing the 
dim curtain should drop ; and Col. Fremont very 
wisely clenched it to the stage. A few in the orches- 
tra still piped ; but the actors were away, the side- 
scenes vacant, and the spectators at their homes; 
and there may they remain, till the sword shall be 
beaten into the ploughshare, and the spear into the 
pruning-hook, and the art of war be known no 
more. 

Thursday, Feb. 4. The Californians who left 
Monterey to join the outbreak at the south are now 
returning to their homes. Every day brings back 
two or three to their firesides. They look like men 
who have been out on a hunt, and returned with very 
little game. Still, it must be confessed that they have 
materially strengthened their claims to military skill 
and courage. They have been defeated, it is true, 
but it has cost their victors many sanguinary strug- 
gles, and many valuable lives. They have raised 
themselves above that contemptuous estimation in 
which they were erroneously held by many, and se- 
15 



170 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

cured a degree of respect, which will contribute to 
mutual forbearance. This result is to be ascribed to 
the prowess of the few, rather than the conduct of 
the many. The mass were governed by impulse and 
the pressure of circumstances. It was not that calm, 
heroic spirit which disregards personal safety, and 
exults in the hour of peril ; nor was it that deep sense 
of patriotic duty which makes a man firm in disaster 
and death. It was rather that recklessness which 
springs from wounded pride, but which often crowns 
with laurels a forlorn hope. 

Friday, Feb. 5. The outbreak at the north has 
passed away, and the last wave of commotion per- 
ished with it. This result is to be ascribed to the 
energy of Capt. Mervin, to the moderation and firm- 
ness of Capt: Marston and his associates, and to the 
good conduct of the forces under their command. 
Nor should it be forgotten that the Californians 
evinced, on this occasion, a disposition well suited to 
bring about an amicable treaty. They took up arms, 
not to make war on the American flag, but in vindi- 
cation of their rights as citizens of California, and in 
defence of their property. They had been promised 
protection — they had been assured that they should 
not be molested, if they remained quietly at their 
homes — and these pledges had been glaringly violated. 
Their horses and cattle had been taken from them 
under cover of public exigency, and no receipts given^ 
to secure them indenmification, till at last they deter- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 171 

mined to have their rights respected, or to die Hke 
men. Still, it was necessary to meet them in arms, 
and in sufficient force to inspire respect. They were, 
however, well mounted, and might, had tliey so listed, 
have prolonged the struggle. But this was not their 
object, and they sent in a flag of truce. The condi- 
tions of the treaty were, that they should lay down 
their arms, release their prisoners, and that their prop- 
erty should be restored, or such vouchers given as 
would enable them ultimately to recover its value. 
This was a reasonable requirement on their part, and 
the American officers had the good sense to appreci- 
ate its force. We must be just before we attempt to 
be brave. Laurels won through wrong are a dis- 
honor. 

Saturday, Feb. 6. We have another rain ; not a 
cloud is to be seen ; but the whole atmosphere is filled 
with a thick mist, which dissolves in a soft perpetual 
shower. It seems as if nature had relinquished 
every other occupation, and given herself up. to this 
moist business. She calls up no thunder, throws out 
no hghtning ; she only squeezes her great sponge, and 
that as quietly as a mermaid smooths her dripping 
locks. 

Sunday, Feb. 7. Com. Shubrick has ordered the 
barricades removed. Thank God ! we are at last 
relieved of martial law. It is one of the greatest 
calamities that can fall on a civilized nation. It tram- 



172 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

pies on private rights, trifles with responsibihty, and 
cuts the conscience adrift from its moorings. Men 
are thrown into this eddy of excess, and then act 
like rudderless ships in a tempest-tost sea. Years will 
elapse before the moral sentiments which have been 
unhinged by military violence can be restored. Even 
California, where revolutions come and go like the 
shadows of passing clouds, will long show the traces 
of the one which has now passed over her. Its light- 
ning has shivered the tree before the fruit was ripe, 
and blasted a thousand buds that might have bloomed 
into fragrant beauty. 

Monday, Feb. 8. Much to the relief of the citi- 
zens. Com. Shubrick has given orders that the volun- 
teers on service here shall be paid off" and discharged. 
They are principally sea-beachers and mountain- 
combers, and some of them are very good men ; but 
others seem to have no idea of the proprietorship of 
property. They help themselves to it as canvas-back 
ducks the grass that grows in the Potomac, or mi- 
gratory birds the berries which bloom in the forests 
through which they wander. They hardly left fowls 
enough here on which to keep Christmas. Could dis- 
membered hens lay eggs, they would have more 
chickens in their stomachs than they ever had dollars 
m their pockets. 



173 



CHAPTER XII. 

KETUEN OF T. O. LARKIN. — THE TALL PARTNER IN THE CALIFORNIAN. — MEX- 
ICAN OFFICERS. — THE CYANE. "WAR MEMENTOES. DRAMA OF ADAM AND 

EVE. CARNIVAL. BIRTH -DAT OF WASHINGTON. A CALIFORNIA CAPTAIN. 

APPLICATION FOR A DIVORCE. ARRIVAL OF THE COLUMBUS. 

Tuesday, Feb. 9. The U. S. ship Cyane, S. F. 
Dupont commander, is just in from San Diego. She 
was dispatched to bring up General Kearny and 
suit, and our consul, T. O. Larkin, Esq. The arrival 
of the Independence was not known at San Diego 
when the Cyane sailed. The return of Mr. Larkin 
was warmly greeted by our citizens. Even the old 
Californians left their corridors to welcome him back. 
He was captured by those engaged in the outbreak 
some three months since, and has been closely guarded 
as a prisoner of war. Still, in the irregularities of the 
campaign, and the easy fidehty of those who kept 
watch, he has had many opportunities of effecting his 
escape, but declined them all. He was on the eve, 
at one time, of being taken to Mexico, and got ready 
for the long and wearisome journey ; but some of his 
captors relented, and he was allowed to remain at the 
town of the Angels, when the success of the Ameri- 
can arms relieved him. He experienced during his 
captivity many acts of kindness. Even the ladies, 
who in California are always on the side of those who 
suffer, sent him many gifts, which contributed essen- 

15* 



174 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

tiaily to his comfort. But he is once more with his 
family, and long may it be before he takes another 
such trip as his last. 

Wednesday, Feb. 10. My tall partner in the Cali- 
fornian is back at last from his three months' trip to 
San Francisco. I excused his long absence, and 
cheerfully endured all the toil of getting out the paper, 
with only the assistance of a type-setting sailor, 
under the vague impression that he was hunting up a 
wife. But he has come back as single as he came into 
the world. Whether his solitude is a thing of choice 
or necessity I have not inquired. A man's celibacy 
is a misfortune, with which it seems wicked to trifle. 
It is too selfish for pity and too serious for mirth. But 
let my partner go ; he will get a wife in due time ; 
indeed he has had one already ; and that is about the 
number which nature provided. Some, it is true, 
take a second, and a few totter on to a third, seemingly 
that they may have company when they totter into 
the grave. Go down to your narrow house alone in 
the majesty of an unshaken faith, and trust to meet 
the partner of your youth in heaven. She waits there 
to beckon you to the hills of light. Meet her not with 
a harem of spirits at your side, but singly, as on 
earth, 

When first beneath the hawthorn's shade, 
The love she long had veiled from view, 

Her soft, uphfted eyes betrayed, 

As fell their broad, bright glance on you. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 175 

Thursday, Feb. 11. Two of the officers of Gen. Cas- 
tro sent through me to-day to Com. Shubrick, appUca- 
tions for permission to return to Mexico. They are 
very poor, having received no pay since our flag was 
raised. There are many more in the same situation. 
They are entitled to our sympathy. They have 
tried, it is true, to retake the country ; but they are 
not to blame for that : who would not have done the 
same, situated as they have been ? We may call 
their courage sheer rashness ; but even that has 
higher claims to respect than pusillanimity. They 
fought for their places, it is true, but I do not see why 
there is not quite as much honor in a man's fighting 
for bread with w^hich to feed his children, as for a 
feather with which to plume his ambition. Very few 
in these days fight from pure patriotism. Some hope 
of profit or preferment lights their path and lures them 
on. There has bee*n, I apprehend, quite as much 
love of country in the Californian as the American, 
in the storm of battle which has swept over this 
land. 

Friday, Feb. 12. The Cyane sailed to-day for 
San Francisco, where she will be allowed a short re- 
pose. And truly she merits this indulgence ; she has 
been, under her indefatigable commander, for six 
months incessantly on duty, and has performed some 
exploits that will figure in history. All our ships 
on this coast have been extremely active, and their 
crews more active still. Wherever they have let go 



176 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

their anchors, it has been for service on shore. They 
have furled their sails only to unfurl their flags, and 
have relinquished the rope only to handle the carbine. 
Not a man of them has been missed in the hour of 
peril ; not a murmur has escaped their lips in priva- 
tion and fatigue. They have done the duty of sol- 
diers as well as sailors. They have conquered Cali- 
fornia. 

Saturday, Feb. 13. The great scarcity of provis- 
ions here, and the difficulty experienced in subsisting 
our forces, has induced Com. Shubrick to issue a cir- 
cular, throwing the ports open for six months to all 
necessary articles of food. This step is characterized 
by sound pohcy as well as humanity. It will have 
the effect of lowering the exorbitant prices which we 
are now paying for these articles, and go far to secure 
the good will of the citizens. Every measure which 
relieves the present exigency, will be fully appre- 
ciated. The scarcity is the result, in some measure, 
of the war ; in this we have a responsibility, and the 
least we can do is to relieve, so far as it lies in our 
power, the calamity which it has entailed. 

Sunday, Feb. 14. The bones which bleach on 
the battle-field, and the groans which load the re- 
luctant winds, are not the saddest memorials of war. 
They lie deeper ; they are coffined in decayed virtue, 
and in the convulsions of outraged humanity. They 
convert the heart of a nation into a charnel-house, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 177 

where the gloomy twihght only serves to betray the 
corruption which festers within. Flowers may bloom 
over it, and garlands be woven of their fragrant 
leaves, but within is death. We shudder at a recol- 
lection of the Deluge, and still gaze with wonder and 
fear at its ghastly memorials : that catastrophe, how- 
ever, swept the earth but once, and then departed ; 
but war has for ages trampled over it in blood, fol- 
lowed by the shrieks of fatherless children, and the 
wail of ruined nations. 

Where'er the blood-stained monster trod 
Fell deep and wide the curse of God. 

Monday, Feb. 15. We have had the drama of 
Adam and Eve as a phase in the amusements, which 
have been crowded into the last days of the carnival. 
It was got up by one of our most respectable citizens, 
who for the purpose converted his ample saloon into 
a mimic opera-house. The actors were his own 
children, and those near akin. They sustained their 
parts well except the one who impersonated Satan ; 
he was of too mild and frank a nature to represent 
such a daring, subtle character. It was as if the 
lark were to close his eyes to the touch of day, or 
the moon to invest herself with thunder. But Eve 
was beautiful, and full of nature as an unweaned 
child. She rose at once into full bloom, like the 
Aphrodite of Phidias from the sparkling wave. Every 
sound and sight struck on her wondering sense, as 
that of a being just waked to life. Her untaught 



178 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

motions melted into flowing lines, soft and graceful 
as those of a bird circling among flowers. 

" Her eyes as stars of twilight fair ; 
Like twilight's too her dusky hair : 
But all things else about her drawn, 
From May-time and the cheerful dawn." 

The features of Adam betrayed his affinity to Eve. 
It was a brother's pride hovering over a sister's love- 
liness. This imparted the highest moral charm to 
the association. No unhallowed thought cast an am- 
biguous shadow on the purity of their bliss. It was 
dashed by the evil one while yet untouched by sor- 
row. When all was lost, Adam sustained himself in 
his irreparable calamity with majestic resignation. 
In a moment of forgetfulness he cast the blame on 
his companion, but her silent tears instantly subdued 
him, and he clasped her to his heart. There is no 
affection so deep as that which springs from sympathy 
in sorrow. Tears fell here and there among the 
spectators, as the exiled pair left forever their own 
sweet Eden. The birds became silent as if they had 
sung only for the ear of Eve ; the flowers would not 
lift themselves from the light pressure of her depart- 
ing footstep ; and the streamlet trembled in its flow, 
as if afraid it might lose the image, which her disap- 
pearing form had cast upon its crystal mirror. 

Tuesday, Feb. 16. It is past midnight, and I have 
just come from the house of T. O. Larkin, Esq., 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 179 

where 1 left the youth, the beauty, the wisdom, and 
worth of Monterey. There are more happy hearts 
there than I have met with in any other assemblage 
since I came to California. This is the sunshine that 
has followed the w^ar-cloud. This being the last night 
of the carnival, every one has broken his last egg- 
shells. But few of them contained cologne or laven- 
der ; nearly all were filled with golden tinsel. Ladies 
and gentlemen too are covered with the sparkling 
shower, and the lights of the chandeliers are thrown 
back in millions of mimic rays. Two of the young 
ladies, remarkable for their sprightliness and beauty, 
broke their eggs on the head of our commodore, and 
got kissed by way of retaliation. They blushed, but 
still enjoyed their triumph. I did not venture the lex 
taliones in this form, but I had eggs, and came off 
pretty even in the battle. The hens will now have a 
little peace, and be allowed to hatch their chickens. 
The origin of this egg-breaking custom I have not 
been able to learn. It seems lost in the twilight of 
antiquity. I must leave it to those walking mum- 
mies, who love to grope among the catacombs of per- 
ished nations : should they discover it, their shouts 
will almost shake down the Egyptian pyramids. 

Wednesday, Feb. 17. A convict on our public 
works managed to escape to-day, carrying off his ball 
and chain. Well, if he only will stop stealing, he may 
run to earth's utmost verge. I always like to see a 
fellow get out of trouble, and sometimes half forget 



180 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

his crimes in his misfortunes. This is not right, per- 
haps, in one situated as I am ; but I cannot help it ; 
it is as much beyond my will as the pulses which 
throb in my veins. 

Friday, Feb. 19. The volunteers, who accompa- 
nied Col. Fremont to the south, are beginning to re- 
turn to their homes on the Sacramento. Several of 
them have stopped here on their way up, and report 
every thing tranquil below. They murmur in deep 
undertones over their failure to reach the Pueblo 
before the forces under Com. Stockton, and ascribe 
their disappointment to a want of confidence in their 
courage and skill. I know not how this may be ; but, 
certainly, many and most of them could have had but 
very little experience in California modes of warfare. 
They may have been as brave as Caesar, and their 
very daring have contributed to their defeat. The 
secret of success here, where lances are used, lies in 
a commander's keeping his troops compact ; but this 
is almost a moral impossibility where men are well 
mounted and as full of enthusiasm as a Cape Horn 
cloud of storms ; without the severest discipline, they 
will dash ahead, and take consequences however 
fatal. It was this error which cost Capt. Burrows 
and his brave companions their lives. 

Saturday, Feb. 20. We have had a fresh stir to- 
day, in the arrival of Lieut. Watson, of the navy, with 
dispatches for Com. Shubrick and* Gen. Kearny, and 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 181 

with private letters to many of the officers. I have 
one dated quite into November, and from my own 
hearth and home. I rushed into the middle of it, 
then to each end, to ascertain that all were well ; 
and felt there was still one spot of earth covered with 
golden light. 

Mr. Watson sailed from New York, November 
twelfth, in the brig Sylvan, landed at Chagres, and 
reached Panama on the twenty-seventh of the same 
month ; was detained there waiting for a convey- 
ance till December the twenty-fifth, when he took 
passage in an English steamer for Callao, fell in with 
the U. S. storeship Erie, at Payta, on January third, 
went on board of her, and arrived at San Francisco 
in thirty-nine days. But for the detention in Panama, 
he would have reached here from New York in sixty- 
seven days. But even this passage may be still fur- 
ther abridged by a line of steamers. The day is not 
distant when a trip to Cahfornia will be regarded 
rather as a diversion than a serious midertaking. It 
will be quite worth the while to come out here merely 
to enjoy this climate for a few months. It is unri- 
valled, perhaps, in the world. 

Sunday, Feb. 21. The American Tract Society 
has sent me out, by the Lexington, a large box of 
their publications. Nothing could be more timely. I 
have not seen a tract circulating in California. Em- 
igrants are arriving, settling here and there, without 
bringing even their Bibles with them. The same is 

16 



182 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

true of the United States troops. All these are to be 
supplied from home, and by those two great insti- 
tutions which are now throwing the light of life over 
continents and isles. It remains for the Missionary 
Society to do its duty, and dispatch to this shore the 
self-denying heralds of the Cross. 

Monday, Feb. 22. This is the birth-day of Wash- 
ington. The Independence and Lexington are bril- 
liantly dressed ; the flags of all nations stream over 
them in a gorgeous arch. A salute of twenty-eight 
guns from the Independence has expressed the hom- 
age of each state to the occasion. Even here, and 
among the native population, Washington is known, 
and his virtues are revered. People speak of him as 
a being exempted from the weaknesses of our nature 
— as one commissioned of Heaven for a great and 
glorious purpose, and endowed with the amazing 
powers requisite for its accomplishment. It is the 
character of Washington that will never die. His 
achievements will long survive on the page of history, 
but his character is embalmed in the human heart. 

rit is not a man's deeds that of themselves render him 
immortal. There must be some high consecrating 

I motive. He who reared the most gigantic of the 
pyramids has perished. He sought an eternal remem- 
brance in his monument, and not in any virtues which 
it was to perpetuate. The monument remains, but 
where is its builder ? 

" G-one, glimmering through the twilight of the past." 



THREE YEAES IN CALIFORNIA. 183 

Tuesday, Feb. 23. We are eagerly looking for 
the arrival of store-ships from the United States. 
Our squadron is without provisions, except fresh grub 
from the shore. Our ships, as far as sea-service is 
concerned, are of about as much use as so many nau- 
tical pictures. They look stately and brave, as they ride 
at anchor in our bay ; but let them go to sea, and 
they would carry famine with them. It is a strange 
policy that keeps a squadron on this coast in such a 
disabled condition. One would suppose the Department 
had concluded men could live at sea on moonshine. 

Wednesday, Feb. 24. A Californian woman com- 
plained to me, several months since, of very ill-treat- 
ment from her husband. He was thoroughly indo- 
lent, cross, and abusive. She had him and the chil- 
dren to feed and clothe, while he did nothing but 
lounge about, find fault, and abuse her. She asked 
for a divorce ; but I told her she must be satisfied, for 
the present, with a separation. So I called him be- 
fore me, and ordered him to gather up his traps, and 
leave the house for six months. He grumbled a little, 
but obeyed the order. 

To-day, the woman returned, and said she would 
try to live with her husband again ; that he often 
now walked past the house, and looked very lonely 
and dejected ; that she felt sorry for him, and, if I was 
willing, she would try him again. I told her, with all 
my heart ; that this was good Christian conduct m 
her, and much better than a divorce. She seemed 



184 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

gratified with this warm commendation ; so did her 
husband with the permission to return. How the 
restoration will turn out, remains to be seen. But 
how forgiving is the heart of w^oman ! Where she 
has once loved, the affection never dies. Neglect 
may chill it, but it will bud again, as plants, over 
which the snows of winter have been spread. 

'Thursday, Feb. 25. A courier arrived to-day from 
los Angeles. Every thing continues quiet there. 
The Californians had entirely dispersed, and retired 
to their ranchos, with the exception of those few who 
had gone upon a forlorn hope to Sonora. They will 
never be able to raise a force there sufficient to make 
any impression here. Mexico has enough to do in 
her own borders, without an attempt to retake Cali- 
fornia. 

Friday, Feb. 26. A captain of artillery in the 
Californian army, said to me a few days since, that 
his military career was now over, that he had a nu- 
merous family to maintain, and he thought of engag- 
ing in making adobes, if I would sell him a small 
patch of ground for that purpose, belonging to the 
municipality ; but stated that he had no money, and 
was not a little puzzled to know how he was to pay 
for it, unless I would suggest some method by which 
he could work it out with his boys and team. I told 
him I was drawing stone for a prison ; that he could 
engage in this, and should be allowed the highest 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 185 

cash price. To-day I found him, with his boys, at 
the quarry, Ufting the stone into his cart. To show 
him that I connected no idea of degradation with the 
work, I turned to and assisted in heaving in one of 
the hugest in the pile. He wanted to know if the 
people in the United States generally worked. I told^ 
him all, except a few loafers and dandies, who were;^. 
regarded as a public nuisance. He said he was glad 
to hear it ; for he must now work himself, and*Mt' 
.would be an easier lot with others to share it with* 
him. I assured him he would have company enough, 
as the emigration poured in over the mountains. 1 
must say, I have more respect for this working cap- 
tain of artillery, than for forty of his rank clinging 
to the shreds of office, and shrinking from honest 
labor. 

Saturday, Feb. 27. The weather continues bright 
and beautiful. The air is soft, the sky clear, the 
trees are in bud, and the fields are medallioned with 
flowers. A bouquet of these floral offerings was sent 
me to-day by a California lady, with a little note in 
liquid Castiiian, that I would accept them as emblems 
of those hopes, which were timidly expanding into 
life for California. Long may those hopes remain, 
and long the gentle being who has sent these tokens 
live to walk in their light. She is one, over whom 
adversity has swept ; but she breaks from its gloomy 
veil, bright as a star from the shadow of the departed 
cloud. 

16* 



186 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Sunday, Feb. 28. It is Lent ; and the family that 
live the next door to mine, are at their evening 
prayers. They were merry as a marriage-bell dm'ing 
carnival, and now they are in sackcloth and ashes. 
Religion has a wide vibration to reach these extremes 
of mirth and melancholy. But life itself is made up 
of vicissitudes ; wealth disappears in poverty ; smiles 
dissolve in tears ; and the light of our mortal being 
goes out in the night of the grave. But there is a 
higher life that is never overcast — a spirit-home, 
where sorrow and change come not. Thither let the 
weary lift the eye of faith, and forget the cares which 
environ their pilgrimage here. 

Monday, Feb. 29. Our harbor has been thrown 
into some commotion again by another of the great 
leviathans of the deep. The U. S. ship of the line 
Columbus, commanded by Capt. Wyman, and bear- 
ing the broad pennant of Com. Biddle, entered our 
bay in stately majesty this morning. She came in 
before a light breeze, under a vast cloud of canvas, 
and rounded to in splendid style, near the Indepen- 
dence. She is the largest ship that has ever been on 
this coast. Ladies and gentlemen watched from 
hill-top and balcony her approach. She is last from 
Callao ; her crew have recovered from the effects of 
the East India climate, and her officers are all in ex- 
cellent spirits. They preferred, of course, a more 
immediate return home, but evinced no want of 
alacrity in obeying the mandate that has brought 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 187 

them here. I find among them my esteemed friend, 
the Rev. Mr. Newton, highly and justly respected in 
the service. We separated in Philadelphia to meet 
in California! After this we may expect to encounter 
each other at the North Pole ! 

Tuesday, March 3. The U. S. ship Warren, under 
Commander Hull, is in from San Francisco. She is 
now in the fourth year of her cruise, and has hardly 
copper enough on her to make a warming-pan. 
Some say she will tumble to pieces if an attempt is 
made to get her around Cape Horn. But she has 
weathered many stormy headlands, and would un- 
doubtedly weather that. Still, she may be detained 
here as a harbor-ship ; but wiser heads than mine will 
determine that question. Her crew ought to be per- 
mitted to return ; it is cruel to keep men out as they 
have been. The sailor's lot is hard enough, indeed, 
when every suitable effort is made to relieve it. 
There are but few drops of real happiness in his cup 
of sorrow. He has his pastimes, it is true, but they 
partake more of insanity than sober gladness. He is 
cradled in adversity, reared in neglect, and dies in 
the midst of his days ; and over his floating bier the 
ocean thunders its dirge. 

Wednesday, March 4. The convict that escaped 
a short time since was overtaken by my constable 
ninety miles distant, and brought back to-day. He 
looked like one whose last desperate hope had been 



188 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

baffled. I asked what he attempted to run away for. 
He said the devil put it into his head. I told him the 
poor old devil had enough to answer for without being 
charged with his offences, and doubled the time of 
his sentence, which was only for six months, and sent 
him back to the public works. He is rather a har- 
dened character, but if he has got a good vein in him, 
I will try to find it. And in the mean time I shall 
set the prisoners quarrying stone for a school-house, 
and have already laid the foundations. The building 
is to be sixty feet by thirty — two stories, suitably pro- 
portioned, with a handsome portico. The labor of 
the convicts, the taxes on rum, and the banks of the 
gamblers, must put it up. Some think my project 
impracticable ; we shall see. 



189 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PEOPLE OF MONTEREY. THE GUITAR AND RUNAWAY WIFE. MOTHER 

ORDERED TO FLOG HER SON. WORK OF THE PRISONERS. CATCHING 

SAILORS. — COURT OF ADMIRALTY. GAMBLERS CAUGHT AND FINED. 

LIFTING LAND BOUNDARIES. 

Saturday, March 6. I have never been in a 
community that rivals Monterey in its spirit of hos- 
pitality and generous regard. Such is the welcome 
to the privileges of the private hearth, that a public 
hotel has never been able to maintain itself. You 
are not expected to wait for a particular invitation, 
but to come without the slightest ceremony, make 
yourself entirely at home, and tarry as long as it 
suits your inclination, be it for a day or for a month. 
You create no flutter in the family, awaken no apolo- 
gies, and are greeted every morning with the same 
bright smile. It is not a smile which flits over the 
countenance, and passes away like a flake of moon- 
light over a marble tablet. It is the steady sunshine 
of the soul within. 

If a stranger, you are not expected to bring a for- 
mal letter of introduction. 'No one here thinks any 
the better of a man who carries the credentials of his 
character and standing in his pocket. A word or an 
allusion to recognized persons or places is sufficient. 
If you turn out to be different from what your first 



190 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

impressions and fair speech promised, still you meet 
with no frowning looks, no impatience for your de- 
parture. You still enjoy in full that charity which 
suffereth long, and is kind. The children are never 
told that you are a burden; you enjoy their glad 
greetings and unsuspecting confidence to the last. 
And when you finally depart, it will not be without a 
benison ; not perhaps that you are worthy of it ; but 
you belong to the great human family, where faults 
often spring from misfortune, and the force of un- 
toward circumstances. Generous, forbearing people 
of Monterey ! there is more true hospitality in one 
throb of your heart, than circulates for years through 
the courts and capitals of kings. 

Tuesday, March 16. Met Com. Biddle and Gen. 
Kearny to-day by appointment, and gave them a 
history of California affairs from the time the flag 
was raised. Both expressed a little surprise at some 
of the events that had occurred, but neither called in 
question the wisdom of the policy which had been 
pursued. The report of a disposition on the part of 
these distinguished officers to cast reproach on events 
in California, are without a shadow of foundation. 
Com. Biddle has not come, it is true, to prosecute the 
measures of his predecessors, nor has he come to re- 
pudiate them. He desires, so far as his instructions 
will permit, to let them remain as he found them, and 
leave to time, that moral touchstone of wisdom and 
folly, the tests of their expediency. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 191 

Wednesday, March 17. I met a Californian to- 
day with a guitar, from which he was reeUng off a 
merry strain, and asked him how it was possible he 
could be so light-hearted while the flag of his country 
was passing to the hands of the stranger. Oh, said 
the Californian. give us the guitar and a fandango, 
and the devil take the flag. This reveals a fact 
deeper than what meets the eye. The Californians 
as a community never had any profound reverence 
for their nominal flag. They have regarded it only 
as an evidence of their colonial relation to Mexico ; 
a relation for which they have felt neither affection 
nor pride. 

Thursday, March 18. A poor fellow came to me 
to-day, and complained that his wife had run away 
with another man, and wanted I should advise him 
what to do. I asked him if he desired her to come 
back ; he said he did, for he had five children who re- 
quired her care. I told him he must then keep still : 
the harder he chased a deer, the faster it would run ; 
that if he kept quiet she would soon circle back again 
to him. 

He hardly seemed to understand the philosophy of 
inaction : I told him there was hardly an animal in the 
world that might not be won by doing nothing ; that 
the hare ran from us simply because we had chased 
it ; that a woman ran for the same reason, though 
generally with a different motive : the one ran to 
escape, the other to be overtaken. He consented to 



192 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

try the do-nothing plan, and in the mean time I shall 
try to catch the villain who has covered an humble 
family with disaster. 

Thursday, March 25. A California mother com- 
plained to me to-day, that her son, a full grown 
youth, had struck her. Usage here allows a mother 
to chastise her son as long as he remains unmarried 
and lives at home, whatever may be his age, and re- 
gards a blow inflicted on a parent as a high offence. 
I sent for the culprit ; laid his crime before him, for 
which he seemed to care but little ; and ordered him 
to take off* his jacket, which was done. Then putting 
a riata into the hands of his mother, whom nature 
had endowed with strong arms, directed her to flog 
him. Every cut of the riata made the fellow jump 
from the floor. Twelve lashes were enough ; the 
mother did her duty, and as I had done mine, the 
parties were dismissed. No further complaint from 
that quarter. 

Monday, April 12. The old prison being too 
confined and frail for the safe custody of convicts, I 
have given orders for the erection of a new one. 
The work is to be done by the prisoners themselves ; 
they render the building necessary, and it is but right 
they should put it up. Every bird builds its own 
nest. The old one will hold an uninventive Indian, 
but a veteran from Sidney or Sing Sing would 
work his way out like a badger from his hole, which 



^ 



THREZ YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 193 

the school urchin had obstructed. 1 had an experi- 
ment with one a few nights since, and he went 
through the roof with ball and chain. How he ever 
reached the rafters, unless the man in the moon mag- 
netized him, I cannot conjecture. But out he got, 
and it cost me a California chase to catch him. 

Thursday, April 16. Six of the crew of the 
Columbus ran from one of her boats this morning. 
They cleared the town in a few minutes, and plunged 
into a forest which shadows a mountain gorge. The 
officer of the boat came with a request from Capt. 
Wyman that I would have them caught and brought 
back. My constables were both absent, and I ordered 
three Californians who w^ere well mounted to go in 
pursuit. The native people are always inclined to 
aid a sailor in his attempt to escape ; they seem to 
think he is of course running from oppression or 
wrong, when in nine cases out of ten he is running 
upon some sudden impulse, and continues the race 
because he has begun it. 

In this instance an order was given and it was 
obeyed ; the sailors were promptly apprehended and 
brought back. But had I offered a reward of fifty 
dollars each for them, and left the Californians to 
pursue or not as they preferred, not one of them 
would have been apprehended. I have never known 
a Californian to molest a runaway sailor or soldier to 
secure the reward offered. He will obey my order 
to arrest him, and he would do the same if ordered to 

17 



194 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

arrest his own brother, but he will not do it to secure 
any pecuniary consideration. He seems to look upon 
it as a breach of national hospitality. Were the 
De'il himself to call for a night's lodging, the Califor- 
nian would hardly find it in his heart to bolt the door. 
He would think they could manage against his horn 
hoof and tail in some way. 

Saturday, April 18. The Pacific squadron having 
captured several prizes not in a condition to be sent 
round the cape for adjudication in the United States, 
the necessity of a court of admiralty here to deter- 
mine upon them, has induced Com. Biddle and Gen. 
Kearny to take the responsibility of its organization. 
They have installed me in this new office, invested 
with the authority which emanates through them from 
the national executive, and the still higher sanctions 
derived ex necessitatt rei. And now comes the 
task of looking up those legal authorities which may 
serve as guiding lights and safe precedents. But 
even here, on this dim confine of civilization, loom to 
light all the bright particular stars which have shed 
their rays on the intricacies of national law and ad- 
gniralty jurisprudence. We have the eloquent com- 
mentaries of Kent, the able dissertations of Wheaton, 
the lucid expositions of Chitiy, and the authoritative 
decisions of Sir William Scott. These, with half a 
dozen young lawyers ready to throw in their own 
effulgent beam, as the glow-worm turns the sparkle 
in its tail to the sun, will enable us perhaps to escape 



THREE YEARS Ix\ CALIFORNIA. 195 

the breakers, where much richer argosies than ours 
have been wrecked. But one thing is pretty certain, 
my journal in the midst of all these perplexing duties 
will find some breaks in it. I must hunt my rabbits, 
quail, and curlew, or stagnate on beef; a sirloin may 
regale the hungry for a time, but even that, if con- 
fined to it, palls on the appetite worse than a one- 
stringed fiddle on the ear, or the low, wordless, mo- 
notonous gruQible of a discontented wife. 

Wednesday, May 12. A nest of gamblers arrived 
in town yesterday, and last evening opened a monte 
at the hotel honored with the name of the Astor 
House. I took a file of soldiers, and under cover of 
night reached the hotel unsuspected, where I stationed 
them at the two doors which afforded the only 
egresses from the building. In a moment I was on 
the stairs which lead to the apartment where the 
gamesters were congregated. I heard a whistle 
and then footsteps flying into every part of the edi- 
fice. On entering the great chamber, not a being 
was visible save one Sonoranian reclining against a 
large table, and composedly smoking his cigarito. I 
passed the compliments of the evening with him, and 
desired the honor of an introduction to his compan- 
ions. 

At this moment a feigned snore broke on my ear 
from a bed in the corner of the apartment. — " Ha ! 
Dutre, is that you ? Come, tumble up, and aid me 
in stirring out the rest." He pointed under the bed, 



196 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

where 1 discovered, just within the drop of the val- 
ance a multitude of feet and legs radiating as from a 
common centre. " Hallo there, friends — turn out !" 
and out came some half-dozen or more, covered with 
dust and feathers, and odorous as the nameless 
furniture left behind. Their plight and discovery 
threw them into a laugh at each other. From this 
apartment, accompanied by my secretary, I pro- 
ceeded to others, where I found the slopers stowed 
away in every imaginable position — some in the beds, 
some under them, several in closets, two in a hogs- 
head, and one up a chimney. Mr. R , from 

Missouri — known here under the soubriquet of " the 
prairie-wolf" — I found between two bed-ticks, with 
his coat and boots on, and half smothered with the 
feathers. He was the ringleader, and raises a monte 
table wherever he goes as regularly as a whale comes 
to the surface to blow. All shouted as he tumbled 
out from his ticks. Among the rest I found the 
alcalde of San Francisco, a gentleman of education 
and refinement, who never plays himself, but who, on 
this occasion, had come to witness the excitement. 
I gathered them all, some fifty in number, into the 
^ large saloon, and told them the only speech I had to 
make was in the shape of a fine of twenty dollars 
each. The more astute began to demur on the plea 
of not guilty, as no cards and no money had been 
discovered ; and as for the beds, a man had as good 
a right to sleep under one as in it. I told them that 
was a matter of taste, misfortune often made strange 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 197 

bedfellows, and the only way to get out of the scrape 

was to pay up. Dr. S was the first to plank down. 

"Come, my good fellows," said the doctor, "pay up, 
and no grumbling ; this money goes to build a school- 
house, where I hope our children will be taught bet- 
ter principles than they gather from the example of 
their fathers." The " prairie-wolf" planked down next, 
and in ten minutes the whole, Chillanos, Sonoranians, , 
Oregonians, Californians, Englices, Americanos, de- 
livered in their fines. These, with the hundred dol- 
lar fine of the keeper of the hotel, filled quite a bag. 
With this I bade them good night, and took my de- 
parture. I hope the doctor's prediction will prove 
true ; certainly it shall not be my fault if it turns out 
a failure. In all this there was not an angry look or 
petulant remark ; they knew I was doing my dut}^ 
and they felt that they atoned in part for a violation 
of theirs through their fines. If you must hold office 
be an alcalde, be absolute, but be upright, impartial, 
and humane. 

Thursday, May 27. A ranchero, living some forty 
miles distant, not liking his own land, had lifted his 
boundary line, and projected it some six miles over 
that of his neighbor. Quite a lap this would be 
among farmers in the United States, but a small slice 
here. I was called upon to decide the difficult}^ 
Taking with me from the public archives a certified 
copy of the original grant to each of the rancheros, 
I proceeded to the spot, where I found some twenty 
17* 



198 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

men under the shadow of a great oak-tree, and each 
ready to locate the boundaries agreeably to the in- 
terests of the party that had summoned him. I 
listened to the stories of each, and then asked the 
ranchero, who had lifted his line, to show me his 
grant. He drew it from his pocket — a document 
signed, sealed, and delivered with all the formalities 
of law. I then drew oul the original, and found their 
topographical lines as much alike as the here and 
there of an unresting squatter. The fact was, the 
man had two grants ; but the last one being a palpa- 
ble invasion of his neighbor's domain, as secured to 
him under the seal of the state, he must of course 
retreat within the limits of the first. A township of 
land being thus judicially and justly disposed of, I 
started on my return ; fell in with a grizzly bear — 
levelled and fired — but without waiting to see if the 
ball took effect, dashed on. A loadless rifle, with an 
enraged bear at your heels, makes you value a fleet 
horse in California. 



199 



% 



CHAPTER XIV. 

A CONVICT WHO WOULD NOT WORK. LAWYEUS AT MONTEREY. WHO CON- 
QUERED CALIFORNIA. RIDE TO A RANCHO. LEOPALDO. PARTY OF 

CALIFORNIANS. A DASH INTO THE FORESTS. CHASING A DEER. KILLING 

A BEAR. LADIES WITH FIREARMS. A MOTHER AND VOLUNTEER. 

Friday, June 18. One of the prisoners, who is an 
EngUshman, ventured a criticism on the stonework 
of another prisoner, wdiich revealed the fact of his 
being a stonecutter himself. I immediately sat him 
at work at his old trade. But he feigned utter igno- 
rance of it, and spoiled several blocks in making his 
feint good. I then ordered him into a deep well, 
w^here the water had given out, to drill and blast 
rocks. He drove his drills here for several days, and 
finding that the well was to be sunk some twenty or 
thirty feet deeper, concluded it was better for him to 
work in the upper air, and requested that he might 
be permitted to try his chisel again. Permission was 
given, and he is now shaping stones fit to be laid in 
the walls of a cathedral. He was taken up for dis- 
orderly conduct, and he is now at work on a school- 
house, where the principles of good order are the first 
things to be taught. 

Saturday, June 19. We have at this time three 
young lawyers in Monterey, as full of legal acuteness 



200 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

as the lancet cup of a phlebotomist. All want clients, 
and fees, and the privilege of a practice in thU 
court. Mexican statutes, which prevail here, permit 
lawyers as counsel, but preclude their pleas. They 
may examine witnesses, sift evidence, but not build 
arguments. This spoils the whole business, and every 
effort has been made to have the impediment removed, 
and the floodgate of eloquence lifted. .1 should be 
glad to gratify their ambition, but it is impossible. I 
should never get through with the business pressing 
on my hands in every variety of shape which civil 
and criminal jurisprudence ever assumed. I tell them 
after the evidence has been submitted, the verdict or 
decision must follow, and then if any in the court- 
room desire to hear the arguments, they can adjourn 
to another apartment, and plead as long as they Hke. 
In this way justice will go ahead, and eloquence too, 
and the great globe still turn on its axle. 

Saturday, July 17. Com. Stockton has left us 
on his return home over the continent. His mea- 
sures in California have been bold and vigorous, and 
have been followed by decisive results. He found 
the country in anarchy and confusion, and the greater 
part under the Mexican flag, and has left it in peace 
and quietness beneath the stars and stripes. His po- 
sition in the march of the American forces from San 
Diego, and in the battle of San Gabriel, has not been 
changed by any subsequent information in the judg- 
ment of the candid and impartial. He tendered the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 201 

command of the expedition to Gen. Kearny, which 
tliat gallant officer deferred to the commodore, out of 
regard to his position at the head of the naval forces 
upon which the success of the enterprise must de- 
pend. The propriety of this arrangement is seen in 
the fact that the general had but sixty dragoons at 
his command, and those on foot, while the Pacific 
squadron poured six hundred seamen and marines 
upon the field. There was no confusion of orders or 
evolutions on the route ; every general movement 
emanated from Com. Stockton, with the good under- 
standing and harmonious action of Gen. Kearny, 

It is deeply to be regretted that any thing subse- 
quently occurred to disturb this spirit of mutual defer- 
ence and generous devotion to the crisis which 
pressed upon our ams. It is not my purpose to com- 
ment on this feature in the affairs of California ; but 
it is due to truth that history should be set right ; 
that facts w^arped from their true position should be 
reinstated on their own pedestals. The army has 
covered itself with laurels on the plains of Mexico, 
and might have won honors here with an adequate 
force ; but to rely on sixty dragoons in the face of a 
thousand Californians, armed with the rifle and lance, 
and accustomed to the saddle from their birth, is to 
trifle with the stern solemnities of war. It is requir- 
ing too much of us, who have lived here through the 
war, and are conversant with its history, to claim our 
assent to the allegation, that California has been con- 
quered through the achievements of the army. That 



202 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

unshrinking arm of the nation has done its work well 
and fast elsewhere, but only the vibrations of its 
blows have trembled across the confines of California. 
For matter of these the Mexican flag would still be 
flying over these hills and valleys. The seamen oi 
the Pacific squadron, as reliable on land as faithful on 
the deck, and the emigrants, who have come here to 
find a home, have wrenched this land of wealth 
and promise from the grasp of Mexico, and unfurled 
the stars and stripes, where they will wave evermore. 
Let the laurel light where it belongs. 

Tuesday, Aug. 10. An Indian galloped to my 
door this morning, having in lead a splendid pied 
horse, richly caparisoned, and with an invitation from 
a ranchero, forty miles distant, that I would come 
and spend a few days with him at his country-seat ; 
so I placed the office in the hands of Don Davido, 
well competent to its duties, and with my secretary, 

Mr. G , mounted on another noble animal, started 

for the mansion of my old friend from the mountains 
of Spain, now in the winter of age, but with a heart 
warm as a sunbeam. The town, with its white 
dwellings, soon vanished behind the pine and ever- 
green oak, which crown the hills, that throw around 
it their arms of waving shade. The little lakes, na- 
velled in the breaks of the forest, flashed on the eye ; 
the water-fowl, in clouds, took wing ; the quail 
whirled into the bushes ; and the deer bounded off* to 
their woodland retreats. A grizzly bear, with a storm 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 203 

of darkness in his face, stood his ground, and never 
even Winked at the crack of our pistols. 

We were now on the bank of the Sahnas, through 
which we dashed, allowing our horses a taste of its 
yellow waters, then up the opposite bank, and away 
over the broad plain, which stretches in vernal beauty 
beyond. Our horses required no spur, were in fine 
condition, high spirits, never broke their gallop, and 
swept ahead, like a fawn to its covert. Mine be- 
longed to the daughter of the Don, to whose hearth 
we were bound, and had often rattled about among 
these hills beneath his fair owner, whose equestrian 
graces and achievements might throw a fresh en- 
chantment on the chase that had gathered to its 
rivalries the beauty and bravery of Old England. 
Another mountain stream — a dash through its foam- 
ing tide, and away again through a broad ravine, which 
bent its ample track to the steep hills, which threw 
the shadows of their waving trees over a thousand 
echoing caverns. Where the forests broke, the wild 
oats waved, like golden lakes, and mirrored the pass- 
ing cloud ; while the swaying pines rolled out their 
music on the wind, like the dirge of ocean. And now 
another luxuriant plain, where cattle, and horses, and 
sheep gambolled and grazed by thousands ; and on 
the opposite side the white mansion of our host, 
crowning the headland, and glimmering through the 
waving shade, like the columns which consecrate 
Colonna. Here w^e alighted w^ithout weariness to our- 
selves or our spirited animals, though we had swept 



204 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

through the forty miles in three hours and a half. 
The senorita, who had sent me her horse, vaulted 
into the saddle, which I had just relinquished, and 
patting the noble fellow, whom she called Leopaldo, 
induced him to exhibit a variety of his cunning evo- 
lutions. He knew his rider as well as a Newfound- 
lander his mistjess, or an eagle his mountain mate. 

It was a festive eve at the Don's ; youth and beau- 
ty were there ; and as the sable hues of night sunk 
on silent tree and tower, the harp and guitar woke 
into melodious action ; the hour was late when the 
waltz and song resigned their votaries to the calmer 
claims of slumber. My apartment betrayed the rural 
diversions of some fairy, one whose floral trophies 
threw their fragrance from every variety of vase. 
The air was loaded with perfume, and could hardly 
be relieved by the visits of the night-wind through 
the lifted window. My dreams ran on tulips and 
roses. Morn blazed again in the east ; the soaring 
lark sung from its cloud ; the guests were up, glad 
voices were heard in the hall ; light forms glanced 
through the corridors, and a huenos dios rolled in 
sweet accents from lips circled with smiles. Coffee 
and tortillas went round, mingled with salutations and 
those first fresh thoughts which spring from the heart 
like early birds from the tree, which the sunlight has 
touched, wMe the dew yet sparkles on its leaves. 
The horses of the Don were now driven to the door — • 
a sprightly band — vieing in their hues with the flow- 
ers that sprinkled the meadows where they gambolled, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 205 

and the guests were invited to make their selection. 
My choice fell, of course, on Leopaldo, who had 
brought me from Monterey ; but his fair owner would 
want him ; no, he was delivered to me, as the sefio- 
rita took another quite as full of fire. 

The ladies w^ere now tost into their saddles, and 
the gentlemen, belted and spurred, vaulted into theirs. 
We all struck at once into a hand gallop, and swept 
over the broad plain which stretches from the acrop- 
olis of the Don, to the broken line of a mountain 
range. Here we spurred into "a broad shadowy ra- 
vine, overhung with toppling crags, and breaking 
through the bold ranges of rock, which threw their 
steep faces in wild fantastic forms on the eye. " A 
coyote !" shouted those in the van, and started in 
chase ; but this prairie-wolf had his den near at hand, 
and soon vanished from sight. Another, and a third, 
but the chasm yielded its instant refuge. A fourth 
was started, who gave us a longer pursuit ; but he 
soon doubled from sight around a bold bluff into a 

jungle. Here the horse of senorita S dashed 

ahead of the whole caballada, with his dilated eye 
fastened on a noble buck, and swept up the sloping 
side of the ravine to gain the ridge, and cut off his es- 
cape in that direction, while the whole troop spurred 
hot and fast upon his retreat below. We were now 
in for a chase, brief though it might be. The buck 
seemed confused ; and no wonder, with such a shout- 
ing bevy at his heels, and with the senorita streaming 
along the ridge, and dashing over chasm and cliff like 

18 



306 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the storm-swept cloud where " leaps the live thunder." 
But the proud buck was not be captured in this way ; 
and as soon as the other side of the ravine began to 
slope from its steep hne, up its bank he sprung, and 
bounded along its ridge as if in exulting rivalry at the 
ratthng chase of the senorita. " Two deers,'' shouted 
one of the caballeros, " and neither of them to be 
caught." 

We here wheeled into another mountain gorge, 
which opened into a long irregular vista of savage 
wildness. A gallop of two or three miles brought us 
to a spot where the rocky barriers retreated on either 
hand, shaping out a bowl, in the centre of which 
stood a cluster of oaks. On the lower limb of one, 
which threw its giant arm boldly from the rough 
trunk, a dark object was descried, half lost in the 
leaves. " A bear, a bear !" shouted our leader, and 
dashed up to the tree, which was instantly surround- 
ed by the whole troop, " Give us pistols," exclaimed 
the senoritas, as bravely in for the sport as the rest. 
Click, crack ! and a storm of balls went through the 
tree-top. Down came old bruin with one bound into 
the midst, full of wrath and revenge. The horses in- 
stinctively wheeled into a circle, and as bruin sprung 
for a death-grapple, the lasso of our baccaros, thrown 
with unerring aim, brought him up all standing. He 
now turned upon the horse of his new assailant ; but 
that sagacious animal evaded each plunge, and seemed 
to play in transport about his antagonist. The pis- 
tols were out again, and a fresh volley fell thick as hail 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 207 

around the bear. In the smoke and confusion no 
one could tell where his next spring might be ; but 
the horse of the baccaro knew his duty and kept the 
lasso tau^t. Bruin was wounded, but resolute and 
undaunted ; the fire rolled from his red eyes like a 
flash of lightning out of a forked cloud. Foiled in 
his plunges at the horse, he seized the lasso in his 
paws, and in a moment more would have been at his 
side, but the horse sprung and tripped him, rolling 
him over and over till he lost his desperate hold on 
the lasso. The pistols were reloaded, and senoritas 
and caballeros all dashed up for another shower of 
fire and lead. As the smoke cleared, bruin was found 
with the lasso slack, a sure evidence that the horse 
who managed it knew his antagonist was dead. 

This was sport enough for one day ; we galloped 
on through the defile, which wound round a moun- 
tain spur, till it struck a precipitous stream, which 
sent into the green nooks the wild echoes of its cas- 
cades. Following the ravine through which it poured 
its more tranquil tide, we debouched at length upon 
the plain, crowned with the hospitable mansion of 
our host. The feats of the morning astonished eveu 
the old Don, who offered his favorite roan to the one 
whose bullet had killed the bear. The meed was 
challenged by each and all, but no one could make 
good and exclusive claim. The gentlemen relinquished 
their claim, but that only made the matter worse, as 
it narrowed the contest to the circle of the senoritas. 
Dinner was announced; then came the siesta, fol- 



208 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

lowed by the soft twilight, w4th the harp, guitar, and 
song, which melted away into sweet sleep. In the 
morning Mr, G. and myself, with the glorious Leo- 
paldo, waved our adieu, and returned to Monterey. 

Monday, Sept. 6. A mother, who lives with a man 
out of wedlock, applied to me this morning to take 
her two daughters from an aunt, with whom they 
were living, and place them in another family. When 
asked for her reasons, she stated that this aunt had 
not a good reputation, and though bad herself, she 
did not want to see her daughters so. I told her she 
could hardly expect me to make her daughters better 
than their mother; that parental example was stronger 
than law ; that if she wanted to keep her daughters 
pure, she must be so herself She shed tears: I said 
no more ; but ordered her daughters into the family 
where she desired. 

Tuesday, Sept. 7. One of the volunteers broke 
into my coral last night, with the intention of reach- 
ing the hen-roost, but was frightened nearly to death 
by a discharge of mustard-seed from an old fowling- 
piece, with which my servant had armed himself for 
the protection of his poultry. Some of the volun- 
teers, and I hope much the larger portion, are upright, 
honest men, but there are others who wdll steal any 
thing and every thing, from a horse to a hen. One of 
the evils of a soldier's lot is, that the good are often 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 209 

confounded v/ith the bad. But every profession suf- 
fers in the same way. 

Friday, Sept. 10. Our bay is full of sardines ; 
an Indian jumped into the surf and scooped up for 
me, with his blanket, half a peck in a few minutes. 
The pelican follows these small fish, and pounces 
down upon them with a savage ferocity. There is 
something in such a sudden destruction of life, even 
in a minnow, which you don't like. I have often 
wished the bird just shot again on the wing. 

We are looking every moment for the return of 
the Cyane, under Commander Du Pont, from the 
Sandwich Islands, where she has been on important 
service. She is the water-witch of the Pacific — if 
ceaseless motion can claim that honor. Her com- 
mander enjoys so thoroughly the confidence and 
affection of his officers and crew, they go with him 
through all this exhausting service without a mur- 
mur. It is a happy tact that can maintain discipline 
and wield at any moment the whole moral and physi- 
cal power of such a ship. 

18* 



210 



CHAPTER XV. 

A CALIFORNIA PIC-NIC. SEVENTY AND SEVENTEEN IN THE DANCE. CHIL- 
DREN IN THE GROVE. A CALIFORNIA BEAR-HUNT. THE BEAR AND 

BULL BATED. THE RUSSIAN'S CABBAGE HEAD. 

Wednesday, Sept. 22. The lovers of rural pas- 
times were on an early stir this morning with their 
pic-nic preparations. Basket after ba^sket, freighted 
with ham, poultry, game, pies, and all kinds of pastry, 
took their course in the direction of a wood which 
stands three miles from town, and shades a sloping 
cove in the strand of the sea. The sky was without 
a cloud, and the brooding fog had lifted its dusky 
wings from the face of the bright waters. At every 
door the impatient steed, gayly caparisoned, was wait- 
ing his rider. Into the saddle youth and age vaulted 
together, while the araba rolled forward with its liv- 
ing freight of laughing childhood. The dogs swept 
on before, barking in chorus, and flaring the gay 
ribbon which some happy child had fastened round 
the neck. 

This mingled tide of health and social gladness 
flowed on to the grove of pine and birch, which threw 
their branching arms in a verdant canopy over a plat 
of green grass, which had been shorn close to the 
level earth. Around this arena strayed every variety 
of twig-inwoven seat, where matron and maiden, in 



I 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 211 

the flow of the heart, forgot their disparity of years. 
The children wreathed each other's locks with coronals 
of flowers, the soft breeze whispered in the pines, and 
the little billow murmured its music on the strand. 
And now the violin, the harp, and guitar woke the 
bounding dance. Forth upon the green the man of 
seventy, still erect and tall, led the blooming girl of 
sixteen. Age had whitened his locks, but the light 
of an unclouded spirit still rolled in his eye, and the 
salient bound of youth still dwelt in his limbs. His 
young partner, with her tresses of raven darkness, 
inwoven with snow-white flowers, — with a cheek, 
where the mantling tide of health was curbed into a 
blush — and a step light and elastic as that of the 
gazelle, seemed as one of Flora's train, just lighted 
there to swim in youth and beauty in the wild wood- 
land merriment. By the side of these, others, in 
mingled youth and age, lead down the double files, 
and balance and whirl in the mazy measures which 
roll from the orchestral band. As these retire, others 
still spring to the arena, and the dance goes on, ever 
changing, and still the same. No faltering step 
delays its feathered feet, no glance of envy disturbs 
its love-lit smiles, no look of clouded care over- 
shadows its real mirth : 

" The garlands, the rose-odors, and the flowers, 
The sparkling eyes, and flashing ornaments, 
The -white arms and the raven haii-, the braids 
And bracelets, swan -like bosoms, the thin robes 
Floating like light clouds 'twixt our gaze and heaven." 



212 TfiaEE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

And now they glide to the tables, which stretch 
away under the embowering trees, and where the 
rich larder has emptied its choicest stores. There 
the savory venison scents the still air, and the wild 
strawberries blush between the green leaves. There 
the domestic fowl, the swift-footed hare, and the timid 
quail have met in strange brotherhood. There the 
juice of the native grape, and the cool wave of the 
gushing rock, sparkle in the flowing goblet. These 
were discussed, and the festive board was relinquished 
to the children, who were too full of glee to note if 
aught more than the fruit and confectionery remained. 
The ripe berry sought in vain to add color to their 
lips, or rival the bloom which lent its rosy hue to the 
round cheek. Golden locks floated around eyes which 
sparkled with light and love, and the accents of glad- 
ness rung out in joyous peals, like the song of birds 
when the storm-cloud has passed. 

"Theirs -was the shout! the song ! the burst of joy ! 
Which sweet from childhood's rosy lip resoundeth ; 
Theirs Avas the eager spirit naught could cloy, 

And the glad heart from which all grief reboundeth." 

The music from the harp and guitar streamed out 
again, and the green plat was full of glancing forms, 
where youth and age, maternal dignity and maiden 
charms, led down the merry dance. As these glided 
to their seats, childhood crowned with wild-flowers 
sprung to the arena, with motions light as the meas- 
ures through which it whirled its infantile forms. A 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 213 

sylvan Pan might have fancied his fays had left their 
green-wood covert to frolic on the green beneath the 
soft light of the dying day. But ere the evening star 
ascended its watchtower the merry groups v^^ere on 
their fleet steeds, bounding over hill and valley to 
their homes. The shadows of the moonlit trees fell 
in softness and silence where all this mirth had been ; 
only the silver tones of the streamlets were heard as 
they murmured their music in the ear of night. The 
echoes of our voices will all cease in the places 
that have known us as we glide at last to the " dim 
bourn," nor will a leaflet tremble long in the breath 
of memory. The myriads who people the past are 
still, the stir of their existence is over, the great ocean 
of their being is at rest. The wandering wind only 
sighs over their tombless repose. 

Friday, Oct. 10. Captain Hull, who has been out 
here nearly four years in command of the Warren, 
left us to-day for the United States. He has ren- 
dered good service to the country during his long 
exile. May prosperous breezes waft him safely to 
his distant home. Lieut. J. B. Lanman succeeds 
to the command of the Warren ; an officer justly 
esteemed for his gentlemanly deportment and pro- 
fessional intelligence. It is this foreign duty that 
puts the competency and fidelity of an officer to the 
test. It is easy to carry on duty at a navy yard, but 
duty on board ship with a heterogeneous crew, is an- 
other thing; it calls for the last resources of the officer, 



214 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

m the maintenance of discipline, harmony, and ef- 
ficiency. 

For a person who has been but a few months in a 
man-of-war, and never been at sea in any other situ- 
ation, to attempt to enlighten the public on the dis- 
cipline of the navy, or any of the duties which belong 
on board ship, is an exhibition of impertinent vanity. 
He has no practical knowledge of the subjects upon 
which he is delivering his sage lecture. He has a 
certain theory with which he proposes to test the 
wisdom or folly, the humanity or cruelty, of every 
thing in the service ; and when this theory gets 
snagged, which is often the case, he is for rooting out 
the whole concern. He don't reflect that his land 
theory is as much out of its element at sea as a 
stranded porpoise would be out of his. All the habits 
and usages of a man-of-war, are heaven wide of 
those which obtain on land. They require rules and 
regulations suited to their genius. Reforms must 
necessarily be of slow growth ; they must take root 
in the service itself, and not in the novelties of any 
land theory. 

Thursday, Oct. 28. The king of all field-sports in 
California is the bear-hunt : I determined to witness 
one, and for this purpose joined a company of native 
gentlemen bound out on this wild amusement. All 
were well mounted, armed with rifles and pistols, and 
provided with lassoes. A ride of fifteen miles among 
the mountain crags, which frown in stern wildness 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 215 

over the tranquil beauty of Monterey, brought us to a 
deserted shanty, in the midst of a gloomy forest of 
cypress and oak. In a break of this swinging gloom 
lay a natural pasture, isled in the centre by. a copse 
of willows and birch, and on which the sunlight fell. 
This, it was decided, should be the arena of the sport : 
a wild bullock was now shot, and the quarters, after 
being trailed around the copse, to scent the bear, 
were deposited in its shade. The party now retired 
to the shanty, where our henchman tumbled from his 
panniers several rolls of bread, a boiled ham, and a 
few bottles of London porter. These discussed, and 
our horses tethered, each wrapped himself in his 
blanket, and with his saddle for his pillow, rolled down 
for repose. 

At about twelve o'clock of the night our watch 
came into camp and informed us that a bear had just 
entered the copse. In an instant each sprung to his 
feet and into the saddle. It was a still, cloudless 
night, and the moonlight lay in sheets on rivulet, 
rock, and plain. We proceeded with a cautious, 
noiseless step, through the moist grass of the pasture 
to the copse in its centre, where each one took his 
station, forming a cordon around the little grove. 
The horse was the first to discover, throuo-h the slim- 
mering shade, the stealthful movements of his antago- 
nist. His ears were thrown forward, his nostrils 
distended, his breathing became heavy and oppressed, 
and his lairge eye was fixed immovably on the dim 
fornp of the savage animal. Each rider now uncoiled 



216 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA, 

his lasso from its loggerhead, and held it ready to 
spring from his hand, like a hooped serpent from the 
brake. The bear soon discovered the trap that had 
been laid for him ; plunged from the thicket, broke 
through the cordon, and was leaping, with giant 
bounds, over the cleared plot for the dark covert of 
the forest beyond. A shout arose — a hot pursuit fol- 
lowed, and lasso after lasso fell in curving lines 
around the bear, till at last one looped him around 
the neck and brought him to a momentary stand. 

As soon as bruin felt the lasso, he growled his de- 
fiant thunder, and sprung in rage at the horse. Here 
came in the sagacity of that noble animal. He knew, 
as well as his rider, that the safety of both depended 
on his keeping the lasso taught, and without the ad- 
monitions of rein or spur, bounded this way and that, 
to the front or rear, to accomplish his object, never 
once taking his eye from the ferocious foe, and ever 
in an attitude to foil his assaults. The bear, in des- 
peration, seized the lasso in his griping paws, and 
hand over hand drew it into his teeth : a moment 
more and he would have been within leaping distance 
of his victim ; but the horse sprung at the instant, 
and, with a sudden whirl, tripped the bear and extri- 
cated the lasso. At this crowning feat the horse 
fairly danced with delight. A shout went up which 
seemed to shake the wild-wood with its echoes. The 
bear plunged again, when the lasso slipped from its 
loggerhead, and bruin was instantly leaping over the 
field to reach his jungle. The horse, without spur or 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 217 

rein, dashed after him. While his rider, throwing 
himself over his side, and hanging there like a lamp- 
ereel to a flying sturgeon, recovered his lasso, bruin 
was brought up again all standing, more frantic and 
furious than before ; while the horse pranced and 
curveted around him like a savage in his death-dance 
over his doomed captive. In all this no overpower- 
ing torture was inflicted on old bruin, unless it were 
through his own rage, — which sometimes towers so 
high he drops dead at your feet. He was now lassoed 
to a sturdy oak, and wound so closely to its body by 
riata over riata, as to leave him no scope for break- 
ing or grinding oif his clankless chain ; though his 
struggles were often terrific as those of Laocoon, in 
the resistless folds of the serpent. 

This accomplished, the company retired again to 
the shanty, but in spirits too high and noisy for sleep. 
Day glimmered, and four of the baccaros started off 
for a wild bull, which they lassoed out of a roving 
herd, and in a few hours brought into camp, as full of 
fury as the bear. Bruin was now cautiously un- 
wound, and stood front to front with his horned antag- 
onist. We retreated on our horses to the rim of a 
large circle, leaving the arena to the two monarchs of 
the forest and field. Conjectures went wildly round 
on the issue, and the excitement became momently 
more intense. They stood motionless, as if lost in 
wonder and indignant astonishment at this strange 
encounter. Neither turned from the other his blaz- 
ing eyes ; while menace and defiance began to lower 

19 



218 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

in the looks of each. Gathering their full strength, 
the terrific rush was made : the bull missed, when the 
bear, with one enormous bound, dashed his teeth into 
his back to break the spine ; the bull fell, but whirled 
his huge horn deep into the side of his antagonist. 
There they lay, grappled and gored, in their convul- 
sive struggles and death-throes. We spurred up, and 
with our rifles and pistols closed the tragedy ; and it 
was time : this last scene was too full of blind rage 
^nd madness even for the wild sports of a California 
bear-hunt. 

Tuesday, Nov. 2. Byron says, a hog in a high 
wind is a poetical object. Had he lived here, he 
might have put a mischievous boy on the top of that 
grotesque animal, and it would have helped out the 
poetical image immensely. The boys here begin 
their equestrianism on the back of a hog or bullock, 
and end it on the saddle, to which they seem to grow, 
like a muscle to a rock. 

Wednesday, Nov. 3. A Russian, who carries on 
a farm at Santa Cruz, called at my office a few days 
since, and presented me with a cabbage-head. I was 
sure from this garden gift, the old Cossack had some- 
thing in tow yet out of sight ; but it soon came in the 
shape of a request that I would summon a debtor of 
his, and order payment. 

The creditor of the Russian proved to be a young 
Frenchman, who had run away with the old man's 



THREE YEAR3 IN CALIFORNIA. 



219 



daughter, married her, and then quartered himself 
and wife on her father. I told the Frenchman he 
must pay board, or run away again with his wife ; 
but if he came back he must satisfy arrears : so he 
concluded to run. This running before the honey- 
moon is pleasant enough ; but running after that 
sweet orb has waned, is rather a dismal business. 



Col. Burton, with his command, is in Lower Cali- 
fornia, where he has maintained the flag against des- 
perate odds. His officers and men have acquitted 
themselves with honor. The powder and ball of the 
enemy were smuggled in by an American — a wretch 
who ought to be shot himself. 

Monday, Nov. 8. After being six months without 
rain, the first shower of the season fell this evening. 
Its approach had been announced for several days by 
a dim atmosphere, which was filled with a soft, thick 
vapor, that swung about, like a limitless cloud. 
The rain itself was warm, and sunk into the earth, 
like flatteryinto the heart of a fool. 




220 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A CALTFORNIAN JEALOUS OF HIS WIFE. HOSPITALITY OF THE NATIVES. 

HONORS TO GUADALUPE. APPLICATION FROM A LOTHARIO FOR A DI- 
VORCE. CAPTURE OF MAZATLAN. LARCENY OF CANTON SHAWLS. 

AN emigrant's wife CLAIMING TO HAVE TAKEN THE COUNTRY. A 

WILD BULLOCK IN MAIN-STREET. 

Saturday, Nov. 20. I was tumbled out of my 
dreams last night by a succession of rapid and heavy 
knocks at my office door. Unbarring it, I found 
Giuseppe, a tov/nsman, vi^ho stated, under an excite- 
ment that almost choked his voice, that he had just 
returned from the Salinas ; that on entering his 
house he had discovered, through the window in the 
door leading to his bedroom, by the clear light of the 
moon, which shone into the apartment, a man re- 
posing on his pillow by the side of his faithless spouse, 
and desired me to come and arrest him. I had 
understood that the sposa had not the reputation of 
the " icicle that hung on Dian's temple," and had no 
great confidence in Giuseppe's domestic virtues 
either ; but that was no valid reason why he should 
be so unceremoniously ousted of his domestic claims. 
I therefore ordered the constable, whom this mid- 
night noise had now awoke, to go with him and bring 
the culprit before me. 

Off they started, well armed with batons and re- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 221 

-volvers. On reaching the premises the house was 
carefully reconnoitred, and every egress from the build- 
ing securely bolted. They were now inside, and had 
conducted their operations so silently they were un- 
suspected. The door leading to the bedroom was at 
the other end of the hall ; they crept over the floor 
with steps so low and soft, each heard his heart beat, 
and the clock seemed to strike instead of ticking its 
seconds. Giuseppe's thoughts ran — 

" I'll see before I doubt ; when I doubt, prove ; 
And, on the proof, there is no more but this." 

Through the panes of glass which relieved the 
panels of the door, they saw in the faint moonlight, 
which fell through the opposite window, the dark locks 
of the guilty intruder flowing over the husband's pil- 
low. " I have a mind," whispered Giuseppe, " to rush 
in and plunge my knife at once to his cursed heart." 
" No, no ;" returned my faithful constable, " w^e are 
here to execute the orders of the alcalde, and if you 
are going to take the law into your own hands I will 
leave you. Hush ! hark ! he stirs ! No ; it was the 
shadow of the tree that frecks the moonhght." All 
was still and waveless again. The door was on the 
jar, and drawing one good long relieving breath, in 

they rushed, and seized what ? A muff'! The 

husband could not believe his own eyes, and mussed 
the muft' up, jerking it this way and that, as if to 
ascertain if there was not a man inside of it. " You 
return late, Giuseppe," murmured his wife, scarce yet 
19* 



222 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

awake. "Oh, yes, yes, my dear, late, late," stammered 
the husband. " You have a friend with you," con- 
tinued the unsuspecting sposa. " Yes, my darling ; a 
friend from the Salinas, whom I have invited to take 
a night's lodging," rephed Giuseppe. " Well, you 
will find a bed for him in the opposite room, and a 
candle and matches on the table," rejoined the sposa. 
So the twain went out, and having disturbed the bed 
assigned the friend sufficiently to give it the appear- 
ance of having been slept in, my constable slipped 
out and came home, denouncing all jealous husbands 
and ladies' muffs. This fluster cost me two hours' 
sleep, and Giuseppe a fee of three dollars to the con- 
stable. He would have paid forty times that sum to 
get free of the joke. Nothing so completely con- 
founds a Californian as to find himself the dupe of his 
suspicions. It is more vexatious than the wrong 
which his mistaken anger sought to avenge. Mu- 
tual confidence is the basis of all domestic endear- 
ment, and the cause w^hich is allowed to disturb it, 
should be as weighty as the happiness it wrecks. So 
reads my homily. 

Tuesday, Dec. 7. There are no people that I have 
ever been among who enjoy life so thoroughly as the 
Californians. Their habits are simple ; their wants 
few ; nature rolls almost every thing spontaneously 
into their lap. Their cattle, horses, and sheep roam 
at large — not a blade of grass is cut, and none is re^ 
quired. The harvest waves wherever the plough and 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 223 

harrow have been ; and the grain which the wind 
scatters this year, serves as seed for the next. The 
slight labor required is more a diversion than a toil ; 
and even this is shared by the Indian. They attach 
no value to money, except as it administers to their 
pleasures. A fortune, without the facilities of enjoy- 
ing it, is with them no object of emulation or envy. 
Their happiness flows from a fount that has very little 
connection with their outward circumstances. 

There is hardly a shanty among them which does 
not contain more true contentment, more genuine glad- 
ness of the heart, than you will meet with in the most 
princely palace. Their hospitality knows no bounds ; 
they are always glad to see you, come when you 
may ; take a pleasure in entertaining you while you 
remain ; and only regret that your business calls you 
away. If you are sick, there is nothing which sym- 
pathy and care can devise or perform which is not 
done for you. No sister ever hung over the throb- 
bing brain or fluttering pulse of a brother with more 
tenderness and fidelity. This is as true of the lady 
whose hand has only figured her embroidery or swept 
her guitar, as of the cottage-girl wringing from her 
laundry the foam of the mountain stream ; and all 
this from the heart ! If I must be cast in sickness or 
destitution on the care of the stranger, let it be in 
California ; but let it be before American avarice has 
hardened the heart and made a god of gold. 

Monday, Dec. 13. A Californian, who had been 



224 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

absent some two years in Mexico, where he had led 
a gay irregular life, finding or fancying on his return 
grounds for suspecting the regularityof his wife, applied 
to me for a decree of divorce, a vinculo inatrimonii. I 
told him that it was necessary, that on so grave a sub- 
ject, he should come into court with clean hands ; 
that if he would swear on the Cross, at the peril of 
his soul, that he had been faithful himself during his 
long absence, I would then see what could be done 
with his wife. He wanted to know if that was Uni- 
ted States law ; I told him it was the law by which I 
was governed — the law of the Bible — and a good law, 
too — let him that is without sin cast the first stone. 
*' Then I cannot cast any stone at all, sir," was the 
candid reply. " Then go and live with your wife ; 
she is as good as you are, and you cannot require her 
to be anv better." He took my advice, is now living 
1 with his wife, and difficulties seem to have ceased. 
Nothing disarms a man like the conscious guilt of the 
ofTence for which he would arraign another. 

Tuesday, Dec. 21. The old church bell has been 
ringing out all the morning in honor of Guadalupe, 
the patron saint of California. Her festivities com- 
menced last evening in illuminated windows, bon- 
fires, the flight of rockets, and the loud mirth of 
children. I wonder if Guadalupe knows or cares 
much about these exhibitions of devotional glee. Can 
the shout of boyhood around the crackling bonfire 
reach to her celestial pavillion ? can the flambeau 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 225 

throw its tremulous ray so far ? will she bend her 
ear from the golden lyres of heaven to catch the 
sound of a torpedo vibrating up over the cloud- 
cataracts which thunder between ? If Guadalupe be 
in heaven, where I hope she is, she has done with 
the crackers and bonfires of earth, and heeds them as 
little as the glow-worm that glimmers on her grave. 
But let the old bell peal on ; it matters but little 
whether it be for this saint or that; it is only a 
metallic hosanna to either. There is more true 
homage in one silent prayer, breathed from the 
depths of a meek confiding heart, than in all the peals 
ever rung from cathedral tow^ers. The only worship 
which approaches that of a resigned heart is the hymn 
of the forest, as its leaves in the fading twilight 
softly tremble to rest. He who can listen unmoved 
to these vesper melodies, can have no sensibility in 
his soul, and no God in his creed. When this fevered 
being shall sink to rest, let me be laid beneath some 
green tree, whose vernal leaves shall whisper their 
music over my sleep. And yet it would be lonely 
were there none beloved in life to finger there in 
death. 

When the bright sun upon that spot is shining 

With purest ray, 
And the small shrubs their buds and blossoms twining, 

Burst through that clay, 
Will there be one still on that spot refining 

Lost hopes away ? 

Wednesday, Dec. 22. We are now carrying the 



226 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

war into the enemy's camp ; the Pacific squadron, 
under the broad pennant of Com. Shubrick, is in 
front of Mazatlan. That important position was cap- 
tured on the twelfth ult., and is now garrisoned by 
three hundred and fifty seamen and marines. Capt. 
Lavelette, well qualified by his intelligence, urbanity, 
and moral firmness for the post, is governor of the 
town. The country around, and all the great ave- 
nues leading through it, are in the hands of the 
enemy, who can, at any moment, bring two thousand 
horsemen into the field. They only want a leader of 
sufficient resolution, and they might force our garrison 
upon the last resource of their courage and strength. 
But Gen. Telles is weak and vacillating, and has 
not the confidence even of the troops which he com- 
mands ; while many of the citizens, who have pro- 
perty at issue, prefer the protection extended to them 
under the flag, to the anarchy and confusion into 
which they might be thrown by the success of their 
own arms. It was a bold and decisive movement on 
the part of our commodore, and executed with a 
vigor that has impressed itself on the apprehensions 
of Mexico. Our flag now waves from ocean to ocean, 
through the plains and mountain fastnesses of that 
dismayed country. -; 

f ' 

Friday, Jan. 7. The captain of a merchant ship 
complained to me this morning, that one of his crew 
had taken a package of rich Canton shawls on shore, 
and clandestinely disposed of them. I had the sailor 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 227 

before me, and wormed out of him the name of every 
person, as he alleged, with whom he had communi- 
cated ; but he omitted the name of one suspicious 
character. I took the constable, and went imme- 
diately to her house, and demanded the shawls : she 
seemed shocked, and denied all knowledge of them. 
Her manner half staggered me ; but I told the con- 
stable to take her to prison, not intending, however, 
to put her in without some evidence of her guilt ; 
but she had not gone many steps from her door be- 
fore her resolution, which had been as firm as ada- 
mant, broke down, and she told where the shawls 
might be found. They were secreted in the mattress 
of her bed ; and the whole fifteen were recovered. 
Had the sailor mentioned her name among the rest, 
I should have been extremely puzzled. A seeming 
frankness is often the deepest disguise. 

Saturday, Jan. 8. An assistant alcalde, residing 
at San Juan, in reporting a case that came before 
him, states that one of the witnesses, not having a 
good reputation for veracity, he thought it best to 
swear him pretty strongly ; so he swore him on the 
Bible, on the cross, by the holy angels, by the blessed 
Virgin, and on the twelve Evangelists. I have 
written him for some information about eight of his 
evangelists, as I have no recollection of having met 
with but four in my biblical readings. 

Monday, Jan. 10. A woman, from our western 



228 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

border, who had drifted into CaUfornia over the 
mountains, and looking as if she had well survived 
the hardships of the way, walked into my office this 
morning, and rather demanded, than invoked, a de- 
cree, that her husband might cut timber on the lands 

of Senor M . I asked her if her husband had rented 

the land. "No." If he had any contract or agreement 
with the owner. " No." " Why then, my woman, do 
you claim the right of cutting the timber ?" " Right, 
sir !" she exclaimed ; " why, have we not taken the 
country ?" I told her it was true, we had taken the 
country ; but we had not taken the private land titles 
with it : she seemed to think that was a distinction 
without a difference. This anecdote will furnish a 
clue to the spirit with which the patient Cahfornians 
have had to contend. 

Tuesday, Jan. 18. Main-street was thrown into 
confusion this morning by a wild bullock, who had 
broken the lasso of his keeper. He plunged down the 
peopled avenue in foaming fury, clothed with all the 
terrors of the Apocalyptic beast : men, women, and 
children fled in every direction. I was standing at 
the moment in the portico of our Navy Agent, and 
before I could clear it, he swept through a corner, 
dashing to the earth a huge stanchion. His next ren- 
counter was with the high paling which protected a 
shade-tree, and which he carried off as Samson the 
gates of Gaza. Something attracted his flashing 
eyes to the door of a small dwelling ; in an instant it 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 229 

flew into fragments before his impetuous strength ; 
fortunately it contained no tenant except the wild 
monster himself, who soon issued from the door, and 
seemed for a moment lost in his phrensy. A caballero, 
mounted on a spirited horse, and with his lasso whirl- 
ing high in air, now rushed up ; I expected for a 
moment to see a desperate plunge from the beast at 
the courser's side, but the rider and his steed under- 
stood their occupation too well ; the lasso fell over 
his horn, and in an instant he was tumbling in the 
sand. He recovered himself, but it was only to be 
thrown again, till a second lasso secured his flying 
heels, and the knife of the Indian finished the rest. 
A wave of lava let loose from its crater, an avalanch 
that has slipped from its Alpine steep, and a wild bull 
that has broken his lasso, are among the most terrific 
objects that dash on human vision. 
20 



230 



CHAPTER XVII. 

RAINS IN CALIFORNIA. — FUNCTIONS OF THE ALCALDE OF MONTEREY. — OR- 
PHANS IN CALIFORNIA. SLIP OF THE GALLOWS ROPE. — MAKING A FATHER 

WHIP HIS BOY. A CONVICT AS PRISON COOK. THE KANACKA. THOM. 

COLE. A MAN ROBBING HIMSELF. A BLACKSMITH OUTWITTED. 

Monday, Feb. 7. The rains in California are mostly 
confined to the three winter months — a few showers 
may come before, or a few occur after, but the body 
of the rain falls within that period. The rain is re- 
lieved of nearly all the chilling discomforts of a 
winter's storm in other climes ; it falls only when the 
wind is from a southern quarter, and is consequently 
warm and refreshing. It is by no means continu- 
ous ; it pays its visits like a judicious lover — with 
intervals sufficient to keep up the affection ; and like 
the suitor, brings with it flowers, and leads the fair 
one by the side of streamlets never wrinkled with 
frost, and into groves where the leaf never withers, 
and where the songs of birds ever fill the warbling air. 

Thursday, Feb. 10. By the laws and usages of the 
country, the judicial functions of the Alcalde of Mon- 
terey extend to all cases, civil and criminal, arising 
within the middle department of California. He is 
also the guardian of the public peace, and is charged 
with the maintenance of law and order, whenever 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 231 

and wherever threatened, or violated ; he must arrest, 
fine, imprison, or sentence to the public v^orks, the law- 
less and refractory, and he must enforce, through his 
executive powers, the decisions and sentences which 
he has pronounced in his judicial capacity. His pre- 
rogatives and official duties extend over all the multi- 
plied interests and concerns of his department, and 
reach to every grievance and crime, from the jar that 
trembles around the domestic hearth, to the guilt 
which throws its gloom on the gallows and the grave. 

Thursday, Feb. 17. There is no need of an Or- 
phan Asylum in California. The amiable and benev- 
olent spirit of the people hovers like a shield over 
the helpless. The question is not, who shall be bur- 
dened with the care of an orphan, but who shall 
have the privilege of rearing itr Nor do numbers or 
circumstances seem to shake this spirit ; it is trium- 
phant over both. A plain, industrious man, of rather 
limited means, applied to me to-day for the care of 
six orphan children. I asked him how many he had 
of his own ; he said fourteen as yet. " Well, my friend," 
I observed, " are not fourteen enough for one table, 
and especially with the prospect of more ?" "Ah," said 
the Californian, "the hen that has twenty chickens 
scratches no harder than the hen that has one." So 
I told him I would inquire into the present condition 
of the children, and then decide on his application. 
His claim lay in the fact that his wife was the god- 
mother of the orphans. 



232 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Wednesday, Feb. 23. One of my Indian prisoners, 
sentenced to the works for theft, managed this morn- 
ing to effect his escape, but was overtaken by the 
constable on the SaUnas, and brought back. When 
asked by me what he ran for, he said the devil put it 
into his head. I asked him if he thought a ball and 
chain would keep the evil one off; he said it might, 
but then if he once got at him, he should stand no 
chance with one of his legs'- chained. I told him I 
should let his leg go for the present, but if he at- 
tempted to run again, I should chain both of them. 
" And my hands too," said the Indian, to assure me 
of his good conduct. 

Friday, March 3. There is an old Mexican law, 
or usage, here, which has sometimes exempted from 
death the murderer who has reached the sanctuary 
of the church, or been favored wdth some accident, in 
the execution of the extreme sentence. Two des- 
peradoes, of Mexican and Indian blood, were brought 
before me, charged with a wilful, deliberate murder. 
A jury of twelve citizens, the largest scope of chal- 
lenge having been allowed, was empanneled. The 
prisoners were convicted and sentenced to be hung. 
But by some strange accident, or design, both knots 
slipped, and down they came, half imagining them- 
selves still swinging in the air. The priest who 
confessed them, and who was present among the 
great crowd, immediately declared the penalty paid 
and the criminals absolved, and started post-haste to 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 233 

Gen. Mason for his mandate to that effect. The 
general told him the prisoners were sentenced to be 
hung by the neck till dead, and when this sentence 
had been executed, the knot-slipping business might 
perhaps be considered. This may seem to have 
been dictated by a want of humanity, but had the 
accident or stratagem in question rescued the crimi- 
nals, not a noose in California would have held. 
The murderers were executed, and the crime for 
which they suffered vanished from the future records 
of the court. 

Wednesday, March 15. A lad of fourteen years 
was brought before me to-day charged with stealing 
a horse. The evidence of the larceny was conclu- 
sive ; but what punishment to inflict was the ques- 
tion. We have no house of correction, and to sen- 
tence him to the ball and chain on the public works, 
among hardened culprits, was to cut off all hope of 
amendment, and inflict an indelible stigma on the 
youth ; so I sent for his father, who had no good repu- 
tation himself, and placing a riata in his hand, direct- 
ed him to inflict twenty-four lashes on his thieving 
boy. He proceeded as far as twelve, when I stopped 
him ; they were enough. They seemed inflicted by 
one attempting to atone in this form for his own 
transgressions. " Inflict the rest, Soto, on your own 
evil example ; if you had been upright yourself, you 
might expect truth and honesty in your boy ; you 
are more responsible than this lad for his crimes ; 

20* 



234 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

you can never chastise him into the right path, and 
continue yourself to travel in the wrong." With 
these remarks I dismissed the parties. 

Saturday, March 18. Horse-stealing has given 
me more trouble than any other species of offence in 
California. It has grown out of a loose habit of 
using the horses of other people without their con- 
sent, at a time when they were of very little account ; 
and what was once a venial trespass has become a 
crime. It is very difficult to arrest it ; much must 
be left to time, the higher influences of moral 
sentiments, and the administration of more specific 
laws. Nor are the Americans here a whit better 
than the natives ; they have a facility of conscience 
which easily suits itself to any prevailing vice. 
Many of them appear to have left their good prin- 
ciples on the other side of Cape Horn, or over the 
Rocky Mountains. They slide into gambling, drink- 
ing, and cheating, as easily as a frog into its native 
pond. They seem only the worse for the restraints, 
which law at home partially exerted. They are like 
a froward urchin who retaliates the wholesome visits 
of the birch by some act of fresh audacity the mo- 
ment he is beyond its reach. But they will find a 
little law even in California, and this little enforced 
with some steadiness of purpose. It is not the law 
which threatens loudest that always exerts the great- 
est restraint. Thunder, with all its uproar, don't 
strike ; it is the lightning that cleaves the gnarled oak. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 235 

Thursday, March 23. A clergyman, who had 
just arrived in Cahfornia, called on me to-day, with 
letters of introduction from several of the first rectors 
in New York. They spoke of him in high terms of 
commendation, and invited that confidence and re- 
gard which might secure him success in his foreign 
adventure ; while they knew him to be a loquacious 
shallow booby. They had probably been so much 
annoyed by him in one shape and another, that they 
had taken this method of getting rid of him, thinking 
that the afldictions of Providence, like his blessings, 
should be more equally distributed. 

Saturday, March 25. To-day I remitted the sen- 
tence of my prison cook. He is a Mulatto, a native 
of San Domingo ; had drifted into California ; was 
attached, in a subordinate capacity, to Col. Fre- 
mont's battalion ; and while the troops were quar- 
tered in town, had robbed the drawer of a liquor 
shop of two hundred dollars. For this offence, I had 
sentenced him to two years on the public works. 
Discovering early some reliable traits about the fel- 
low, I began to confide in him, soon made him cook 
to the rest of the prisoners, and allowed him the pri- 
vileges of the town, so far as his duties in that capa- 
city required. He has never betrayed my trust, and 
has always been the first to communicate to me any 
stratagem on the part of the prisoners to effect their 
escape. I have trusted him wdth money to purchase 
provisions, and he has faithfully accounted for every 



236 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

shilling. He has always been kind and attentive to 
the sick. For these faithful services, I have remitted 
the remainder of his sentence, which would have con- 
fined him nine months longer, and have put him on 
a pay of thirty dollars per month as cook. There is 
a string in every man's breast, which, if you can 
rightly touch, will " discourse music." 

Thursday, April 6. I met a little California boy 
to-day in tattered garments, and v/ithout hat or shoes. 
He had a small fish in his hand, which he had just 
hooked up from the end of the wharf I offered him 
half a dollar for it ; he said no, he wanted it him- 
self I offered him a dollar ; he still said no, he was 
going to make a dinner on it. The result would pro- 
bably have been the same had I offered him five 
dollars. No one here is going to catch fish for you 
or any one else while he wants them himself 

Saturday, April 15. I made another pounce this 
evening on the gamblers, and captured their bank ; 
but most of the players had slipped their money into 
their pockets before I could reach the table. No one 
rescued a dollar after my cane, with its alcalde in- 
signia, had been laid on the boards. The authority 
of that baton they always respect. How comfortable 
it is for one to carry his moral power on the top of 
his cane. It almost justifies the Roman Catholic 
exegesis — and Jacob worshipped the top of his staff. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 237 

Monday, April 17. I had sent one of my con- 
stables to the Salinas river, and the other to San 
Juan, and retired to rest ; but about midnight was 
startled from my dreams, by a loud rap at my office 
door. Throwing my cloak around me, I unbolted 
the portal, and there stood, in the clear moonlight, a 
tall Kanacka, who reverently lifted his hat, and ob- 
served, " The town, sir, is perfectly quiet." I thanked 
him for the information, and closed the door. The 
fellow had been drinking, and in the importance 
which liquor sometimes imparts, had imagined him- 
self at the head of the police. 

Thursday, April 27. Thorn. Cole, whose moral 
vision could never yet discover any difference between 
possession and ownership, where a horse was concerned, 
was brought before me this morning, mounted on a fleet 
steed belonging to a citizen of the town. He had re- 
moved the brand of the rightful owner and substituted 
his own ; but the disguise was easily penetrated, and 
the horse identified. Thorn, averred the horse was 
found on his rancho ; but he was ordered to deliver him 
to his proper owner, who stood by to receive him. At 
this moment Thorn, sprung into his saddle and was off, 
horse and all, in the twinkling of an eye. I applied 
to Gen. Mason for a file of soldiers ; they w^ere 
promptly ordered, and stationed on the three streets, 
through one of which Thom. must make his egress 
from town. He soon came sweeping on at the top 
of his speed, when he suddenly found three muskets 



238 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

levelled at him, with an order to dismount. There 
was no discharge in that war, and down he jumped, and 
was soon delivered over to me. How changed ! a 
moment before setting the whole world at defiance ; 
and now praying to be saved from the fleas of the 
prison. As the flea could only punish him without 
benefiting the town, I determined to reach him 
through another channel, by which both purposes 
should be answered ; and fined him fifty dollars for 
contempt of court. So Thom. lost his horse and fifty 
dollars, and got a lesson of humiliation which quelled 
his spirit like a wet blanket thrown on a flaxen flame. 

Tuesday, May 2. I was roused from my sleep 
last night by a loud, hurried knocking at my door, 
and a voice exclaiming, "Alcalde, alcalde!" On 
reaching the door I found there a young Mexican, 
the clerk of a store near by, without hat or shoes, and 
only a blanket wrapped around him. He told me the 
volunteers had broken into his store, and were rob- 
bing the money-chest. By this time my constable 
was up, and, throwing on our clothes, we hastened 
with the clerk to his store ; but not a human being 
was to be seen. He showed us the bolt that had been 
forced, the chest that had been broken, the pistol that 
he had snapped, and the wound that he had received 
on the head. I sent the constable to the captain of 
the volunteers, who immediately searched his quar- 
ters, where he found every man in his berth, except 
those on guard. With these unsatisfactory results I 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 239 

returned to my office and bed, and directed the con- 
stable to keep an eye on the clerk. 

Wednesday, May 3. This morning I examined 
into all the circumstances connected with the rob- 
bery. The wound of the clerk, which he says he re- 
ceived from a cudgel, is a slight cut, apparently made 
by some sharp instrument. The chisel, with which 
the chest was forced, corresponds in width to one for 
sale on the shelf Of the thousand dollars locked up 
in the chest and drawers, not one, it seems, escaped ; 
not a quarter or fip fell to the floor ; all went into the 
sack of the robbers, though they worked in the dark. 
And then, as he alleges, the robbers were volunteers 
without their uniform, and with their faces blacked. 
If so thoroughly disguised, how could he know they 
were volunteers ? From these circumstances I have 
no doubt the rogue robbed himself, and raised the 
hue and cry to cover the transaction. But we shall 
see ; the thing will out yet. 

Sunday, May 9. This is my birth-day. I am on 
the shaded side of that hill which swells midway be- 
tween the extremities of life. The past seems but a 
dream, and the future will soon be so. To what has 
been and to what may be, I seem to myself almost 
indifferent. I know the vanities in which human 
hopes end ; I know that life itself is only a bubble 
that has caught the hues of some falling star. And 
yet this airy phantom is not all such as it would 



240 THREE YEARS I\ CALIFORXIA. 

seem ; there is something besides shadow in its eva- 
nescent form. Our visions of happiness may prove 
an illusion, but our sorrows are real. It is no fancied 
knell that shakes the bier ; no imaginary pall that 
wraps the loved and the lost. The grave is invested 
with the awful majesty of the real. 

Monday, May 10. I had directed the constable to 
get a pair of iron hinges made for one of the doors of 
the prison. He gave the order to a blacksmith, a 
crabbed old fellow, w^ho charged eight dollars for his 
coarse work. As the charge w^as an imposition, I 
told the constable not to take the hinges ; w^hen up 
came the blacksmith with them to the office, and, in 
a fit of passion, hurled them at my feet, as I stood in 
the piazza. I handed the constable eight dollars, and 
told him to call on the blacksmith, pay him for the 
hinges, take his receipt, and then bring him before 
me. All which was done, and before me stood the 
smith, with his choler yet up. I told him that his 
violence and indignity would not be passed over ; 
that I should fine him ten dollars for the benefit of 
the town, which he might pay or go to prison. After 
a few moments' hesitation, he laid the ten dollars on 
the table, and took his departure without uttering a 
word. When clear of the office he grumbled out to 
the constable, " For once in my life I have been out- 
witted ; that Yankee alcalde has not only got my 
hinges for nothing, but two dollars besides. I don't 
wonder he can swing his prison doors at that rate ; T 



THREE YEAKii IN vJALIFORNIA. 241 

would have tried the calaboose but for the infernal 
fleas." The constable told him the next time he 
made hinges he must charge what they were worth, 
and curb his towering temper. 

Wednesday, May 17. The ire of a Californian of 
hidalgo extraction flashes from his dark eyes like 
heat-lightning on a July cloud — you see the blaze, 
but hear no thunder ; while the wit of a California 
lady glances here and there like the sun-rays through 
the fluttering leaves of a wind-stirred forest. We 
have several ladies here celebrated for their brilliant 
sallies, but Donna Jimeno carries off" the palm. A 
friend showed her this morning a picture of the Is- 
raelites gathering manna. " Ah ! they are the Cali- 
fornians," said the Donna, " they pick up what heaven 
rains down." He showed her Moses smiting the 
rock. " And there," said the Donna, " is a Yankee ; 
he can bring water out of a rock." But humor and 
wit are not the highest characteristics of this lady. 
She possesses a refinement and intelligence that 
might grace any court in Europe ; and withal, a be- 
nevolence that never wearies in reaching and reliev- 
ing the sick. Her care of Lieut. Miner, one of the 
officers attached to this post, will long live in grateful 
remembrance. She hovered over him till his spirit 
fled, and wept as she thought of his mother. - 

21 



242 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

FIRST DISCOVERY OF GOLD. — PRISON GUARD. INCREDULITY ABOUT THE 

GOLD. SANTIAGO GETTING MARRIED. ANOTHER LUMP OF GOLD. 

EFFECTS OF THE GOLD FEVER. — THE COURT OF AN ALCALDE. MOS- 
QUITOES AS CONSTABLES. BOB AND HIS BAG OF GOLD. RETURN OF 

CITIZENS FROM THE MINES. A MAN WITH THE GOLD CHOLIC. — THE 

MINES ON INDIVIDUAL CREDIT. 

Monday, May 29. Our town was startled out of 
its quiet dreams to-day, by the announcement that 
gold had been discovered on the American Fork. 
The men wondered and talked, and the women too ; 
but neither believed. The sibyls were less skeptical ; 
they said the moon had, for several nights, appeared 
not more than a cable's length from the earth ; that 
a white raven had been seen playing with an infant ; 
and that an owl had rung the church bells. 

Saturday, June 3. The most faithful and reliable 
guard that I have ever had over the prisoners, is him- 
self a prisoner. He had been a lieutenant in the 
Mexican army, and was sentenced, for a flagrant 
breach of the peace, to the public works for the term 
of one year. Being hard up for funds, I determined 
to make an experiment with this lieutenant ; had him 
brought before me ; ordered the ball and chain to be 
taken from his leg, and placed a double-barrelled gun, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 243 

loaded and primed, in his hands. " Take that musket, 
and proceed with the prisoners to the stone quarry ; 
return them to their cells before sunset, and report to 
me." " Your order, Senor Alcalde, shall be faith- 
fully obeyed," was the reply. I then ordered one of 
the constables, well mounted and armed, to recon- 
noitre the quarry, and, unseen by the prisoners or 
guard, ascertain how things went on. He returned, 
and reported well of their regularity. At sunset, the 
lieutenant entered the office, and reported the pris- 
oners in their cells, and all safe. " Very well, Jose ; 
now make yourself safe, and that will do." He 
accordingly returned to his prison, and from that day 
to this, has been my most faithful and reliable guard. 

Monday, June 5. Another report reached us this 
morning from the American Fork. The rumor ran, 
that several workmen, while excavating for a mill- 
race, had thrown up little shining scales of a yellow 
ore, that proved to be gold ; that an old Sonoranian, 
who had spent his life in gold mines, pronounced it 
the genuine thing. Still the public incredulity re- 
mained, save here and there a glimmer of faith, like 
the flash of a fire-fly at night. One good old lady, 
however, declared that she had been dreaming of 
gold every night for several weeks, and that it had 
so frustrated her simple household economy, that she 
had relieved her conscience, by confessing to her 
priest — 

" Absolve me, father, of that smful dream." 



244 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Tuesday, June 6. Being troubled with the golden 
dream almost as much as the good lady, I determined 
to put an end to the suspense, and dispatched a mes- 
senger this morning to the American Fork. He will 
have to ride, going and returning, some four hundred 
miles, but his report will be reliable. We shall then 
know whether this gold is a fact or a fiction — a tan- 
gible reality on the earth, or a fanciful treasure at the 
base of some rainbow, retreating over hill and water- 
fall, to lure pursuit and disappoint hope. 

Saturday, June 10. My boy Santiago has taken 
it into his head to get married ; and being a Protes- 
tant, finds it extremely difficult to get through the 
ecclesiastical hopper. Were the person whom he 
wishes to wed of the same faith with himself, there 
would be but little impediment ; but as she is a Ro- 
m^n Catholic, it is necessary that he should become 
one too. He has been to the presiding priest to see 
if he could not get his permission to retain a few ar- 
ticles of his own religion, just enough to save his con- 
science. But his reverence told him he must give it up 
in toto, renounce it as a heresy, and come without a 
scruple into the mother church. lago is not much of 
a theologian, but has sense enough to know that con- 
scientious scruples are not things of which a man can 
free himself at will. His love, none the less deep and 
sincere for his humble condition, urges him to a com- 
pliance with the canonical requirement, but these 
very scruples hold him back. How he will extricate 



I 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 245 

himself I know not. He will probably compound the 
matter with his conscience by some mental reserva- 
tions, as Galileo did when awed into the indignant 
confession that the earth was flat. Verily, if a man 
cannot marry in this world without becoming a hypo- 
crite or apostate from the faith of his fathers, the 
sooner Miller's conflagrating dream becomes a reality 
the better. Perhaps some shape of flame might 
emerge from its drifting embers, that would dare 
glimmer towards heaven without the leave of a prag- 
matic priest. I wonder if Adam asked Eve if she 
were a Roman Catholic before they celebrated their 
nuptials. This is an important question, and ought 
to be looked into, though now rather late in the day. 
I commend it to my venerable friend, the Bishop of 
New York, who has recently issued an edict that no 
Protestant shall marry a Roman Catholic without 
first passing his children, prospectively, through his 
baptismal font. 

Monday, June 12. A straggler came in to-day 
from the American Fork, bringing a piece of yellow 
ore weighing an ounce. The young dashed the dirt 
from their eyes, and the old from their spectacles. 
One brought a spyglass, another an iron ladle ; some 
w^anted to melt it, others to hammer it, and a few 
were satisfied with smelling it. All were full ot 
tests ; and many, who could not be gratified in ma- 
king their experiments, declared it a humbug. One 
lady sent me a huge gold ring, in the hope of reach- 

21* 



246 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ing the truth by comparison ; while a gentleman 
placed the specimen on the top of his gold-headed 
cane and held it up, challenging the sharpest eyes to 
detect a difference. But doubts still hovered on the 
minds of the great mass. They could not conceive 
that such a treasure could have lain there so long 
undiscovered. The idea seemed to convict them of 
stupidity. There is nothing of which a man is more 
tenacious than his claims to sagacity. He sticks to 
them like an old bachelor to the idea of his personal 
attractions, or a toper to the strength of his temper- 
ance ability, whenever he shall wish to call it into 
play. 

Thursday, June 15. Found an Indian to-day per- 
fectly sober, who is generally drunk, and questioned 
him of the cause of his sobriety. He stated that he 
wished to marry an Indian girl, and she would not 
have him unless he would keep sober a month ; that 
this was but his third day, and he should never be 
able to stand it unless I would put him beyond the 
reach of liquor. So I sentenced him to the public 
works for a month ; this will pay off old scores, and 
help him to a wife, who may perhaps keep him sober, 
though I fear there is little hope of that. 

Tuesday, June 20. My messenger sent to the 
mines, has returned with specimens of the gold ; he 
dismounted in a sea of upturned faces. As he drew 
forth the yellow lumps from his pockets, and passed 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 247 

them around among the eager crowd, the doubts, 
which had Ungered till now, fled. All admitted they 
were gold, except one old man, who still persisted 
they were some Yankee invention, got up to reconcile 
the people to the change of flag. The excitement 
produced was intense ; and many were soon busy in 
their hasty preparations for a departure to the mines. 
The family who had kept house for me caught the mov- 
ing infection. Husband and wife were both packing 
up ; the blacksmith dropped his hammer, the carpen- 
ter his plane, the mason his trowel, the farmer his 
sickle, the baker his loaf, and the tapster his bottle. 
All were off* for the mines, some on horses, some on 
carts, and some on crutches, and one went in a 
litter. An American woman, who had recently es- 
tablished a boarding-house here, pulled up stakes, and 
was off" before her lodgers had even time to pay their 
bills. Debtors ran, of course. I have only a com- 
munity of women left, and a gang of prisoners, with 
here and there a soldier, who will give his captain 
the slip at the first chance. I don't blame the fellow 
a whit ; seven dollars a month, while others are mak- 
ing two or three hundred a day ! that is too much 
for human nature to stand. 

Saturday, July 15. The gold fever has reached 
every servant in Monterey ; none are to be trusted 
in their engagement beyond a week, and as for com- 
pulsion, it is like attempting to drive fish into a net 
with the ocean before them. Gen. Mason, Lieut. 



248 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Lanman, and myself, form a mess ; we have a house, 
and all the table furniture and culinary apparatus re 
quisite; but our servants have run, one after another, 
till we are almost in despair : even Sambo, who we 
thought would stick by from laziness, if no other 
cause, ran last night ; and this morning, for the forti- 
eth time, we had to take to the kitchen, and cook our 
own breakfast. A general of the United States Army, 
the commander of a man-of-war, and the Alcalde of 
Monterey, in a smoking kitchen, grinding coffee, 
toasting a herring, and pealing onions ! These gold 
mines are going to upset all the domestic arrange- 
ments of society, turning the head to the tail, and the 
tail to the head. Well, it is an ill wind that blows no- 
body any good: the nabobs have had their time, and 
now comes that of the " niggers." We shall all live 
just as long, and be quite as fit to die. 

Tuesday, July 18. Another bag of gold from the 
mines, and another spasm in the community. It was 
brought down by a sailor from Yuba river, and con- 
tains a hundred and thirty-six ounces. It is the most 
beautiful gold that has appeared in the market ; it 
looks like the yellow scales of the dolphin, passing 
through his rainbow hues at death. My carpenters, 
at work on the school-house, on seeing it, threw down 
their saws and planes, shouldered their picks, and 
are off for the Yuba. Three seamen ran from the 
Warren, forfeiting their four years' pay ; and a 
whole platoon of soldiers from the fort left only their 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 249 

colors behind. One old woman declared she would 
never again break an egg or kill a chicken, without 
examining yolk and gizzard. 

Saturday, July 22. The laws by which an al- 
calde here is governed, in the administration of jus- 
tice, are the Mexican code as compiled in Frebrero 
and Alverez — works of remarkable comprehensive- 
ness, clearness, and facility of application. They 
embody all the leading principles of the civil law, de- 
rived from the institutes of Justinian. The common 
law of England is hardly known here, though its 
rules and maxims have more or less influenced local 
legislation. But with all these legal provisions a vast 
many questions arise which have to be determined 
ex cathedra. In minor matters the alcalde is often 
himself the law ; and the records of his court might 
reveal some very exquisite specimens of judicial pre- 
rogative ; such as shaving a rogue's head — lex talio- 
nis — who had shaved the tail of his neighbor's horse ; 
or making a busybody, who had slandered a w^orthy 
citizen, promenade the streets with a gag in his 
mouth ; or obliging a man who had recklessly caused 
a premature birth, to compensate the bereaved father 
for the loss of that happiness which he might have 
derived from his embryo hope, had it budded into 
life. This last has rather too many contingencies 
about it ; but the principle, which reaches it and 
meets the offender, does very well out here in Cali- 
fornia, and would not be misapplied in some of those 



2i)0 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

pill-shops which slope the path to crime in the United 
States. 

Thursday, July 27. I never knew mosquitoes 
turned to any good account save in California ; and 
here it seems they are sometimes ministers of justice. 
A rogue had stolen a bag of gold from a digger in the 
mines, and hid it. Neither threats nor persuasions 
could induce him to reveal the place of its conceal- 
ment. He was at last sentenced to a hundred lashes, 
and then informed that he would be let off with thirty, 
provided he would tell what he had done with the 
gold; but he refused. The thirty lashes were in- 
jflicted, but he was still stubborn as a mule. 

He was then stripped naked and tied to a tree. 
The mosquitoes with their long bills went at him, 
and in less than three hours he was covered with 
blood. Writhing and trembling from head to foot 
with exquisite torture, he exclaimed, " Untie me, un- 
tie me, and I will tell where it is." " Tell first," was 
the reply. So he told where it might be found. 
Some of the party then, with wisps, kept off the still 
hungry mosquitoes, while others went where the cul- 
prit had directed, and recovered the bag of gold. He 
was then untied, washed with cold water, and helped 
to his clothes, while he muttered, as if talking to him- 
self, " I couldn't stand that anyhow." * 

Friday, July 28. A little laughing girl tripped 
into the office to-day, and handed me a bunch of 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 251 

flowers, which she said her mother sent me. " And 
who is your mother, my sweet one ?" I inquired. She 
told me, and I then remembered that I had recovered 
for her a silver cup, which an Indian had stolen ; and 
these flowers had now come as a memento. 

" Fee me with flowers, they hold no sordid bribe." 

Saturday, Aug. 12. My man Bob, who is of Irish 
extraction, and who had been in the mines about two 
months, returned to Monterey four weeks since, 
bringing with him over two thousand dollars, as the 
proceeds of his labor. Bob, while in my employ, re- 
quired me to pay him every Saturday night, in gold, 
which he put into a little leather bag and sewed into 
the lining of his coat, after taking out just twelve and 
a half cents, his weekly allowance for tobacco. But 
now he took rooms and began to branch out ; he had 
the best horses, the richest viands, and the choicest 
wines in the place. He never drank himself, but it 
filled him with delight to brim the sparkling goblet for 
others. I met Bob to-day, and asked him how he got 
on. " Oh, very well," he replied, " but I am off* again 
for the mines." "How is that. Bob? you brought 
down with you over two thousand dollars ; I hope 
you have not spent all that : you used to be very 
saving ; twelve and a half cents a week for tobacco, 
and the rest you sewed into the lining of your coat." 
" Oh, yes," replied Bob, " and I have got that money 
yet ; I worked hard for it ; and the diel can't get it 



252 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

away ; but the two thousand dollars came asily by 
good luck, and has gone as asily as it came." Now 
Bob's story is only one of a thousand like it in Cali- 
fornia, and has a deeper philosophy in it than meets 
the eye. Multitudes here are none the richer for the 
mines. He who can shake chestnuts from an ex- 
haustless tree, won't stickle about the quantity he 
roasts. 

Thursday, Aug. 16. Four citizens of Monterey 
are just in from the gold mines on Feather River, 
where they worked in company with three others. 
They employed about thirty wild Indians, who are at- 
tached to the rancho owned by one of the party. They 
worked precisely seven weeks and three days, and 
have divided seventy-six thousand eight hundred and 
forty-four dollars, — nearly eleven thousand dollars to 
each. Make a dot there, and let me introduce a man, 
well known to me, who has worked on the Yuba 
river sixty-four days, and brought back, as the result 
of his individual labor, five thousand three hundred 
and fifty-six dollars. Make a dot there, and let me 
introduce another townsman, who has worked on the 
North Fork fifty-seven days, and brought back four 
thousand five hundred and thirty-four dollars. Make 
a dot there, and let me introduce a boy, fourteen ye'ars 
of age, who has worked on the Mokelumne fifty- four 
days, and brought back three thousand four hundred 
and sixty-seven dollars. Make another dot there, and 
let me introduce a woman, of Sonoranian birth, who 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 253 

has worked in the dry diggings forty-six days, and 
brought back two thousand one hundred and twenty- 
five dollars. Is not this enough to make a man 
throw down his leger and shoulder a pick ? But the 
deposits which yielded these harvests were now 
opened for the first time ; they were the accumula- 
tion of ages ; only the foot-prints of the elk and wild 
savage had passed over them. Their slumber was 
broken for the first time by the sturdy arms of the 
American emigrant. 

Tuesday, Aug. 28. The gold mines have upset all 
social and domestic arrangements in Monterey ; the 
master has become his own servant, and the servant 
his own lord. The millionaire is obliged to groom 
his own horse, and roll his wheelbarrow; and the 
hidalgo — in whose veins flows the blood of all the , 
Cortes — to clean his own boots ! Here is lady lu^A^^H^^^ 
who has lived here seventeen years, the pride and 
ornament of the place, with a broo ms^tic k in her 
jewelled hand! And here is lady B-C^^with her 
daughter — all the way from " old Virginia," where 
they graced society with their varied accomplish- 
ments — now floating between the parlor and kitchen, 
and as much at home in the one as the other ! And 
here is lady S ' , whose cattle are on a thousand 
hills, lifting, like Rachel of old, her bucket of water 
from the deep well ! And here is lady M. L— , 
whose honeymoon is still full of soft seraphic light, 
unhouseling a potatoe, and hunting the hen that laid 

22 



254 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the last egg. And here am I, who have been a man 
of some note in my day, loafing on the hospitality of 
the good citizens, and grateful for a meal, though in 
an Indian's wigwam. Why, is not this enough to 
make one wish the gold mines were in the earth's 
flaming centre, from which they sprung? Out on this 
yellow dust! it is worse than the cinders which 
buried Pompeii, for there, high and low shared the 
same fate ! 

Saturday, Sept. 9. I met a Scotchman this morn- 
ing bent half double, and evidently in pain. On in- 
quiring the cause, he informed me that^e had just seen 
a lump of gold from the Mokelumne as big as his 
double fist, and it had given him the cholic. The 
diagnosis of the complaint struck me as a new feature 
in human maladies, and one for which it would be 
diffi(5ult to find a suitable medicament in the thera- 
peutics known to the profession ; especially in the 
allopathic practice, which has stood still for three 
thousand years, except in the discovery of quinine 
for ague, and sulphur for itch. The gentlemen of 
this embalmed school must wake up ; their antedilu- 
vian owl may do on an Egyptian obelisk, but we must 
have a more wide-awake bird in these days of pro- 
gress. Here is a man bent double with a new and 
strange disease, taken from looking at gold : your 
bleeding, blistering, and purging won't free him of it. 
What is to be done ? shall he be left to die, or be de- 
livered over to the homoeopathies ? They have a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 255 

medicament that acts as a specific, on the principle 
that the hair of the dog is good for the bite. If you 
burn your hand, what do you do — clasp a piece of 
ice? — no, seize a warm poker; if you freeze your foot, 
do you put it to the fire? — no, dash it into the snow ; 
and so if you take the gold-choUc, the remedy is, 
aurum — similia similihus curantur. 

Saturday, Sept. 16. The gold mines are pro- 
ducing one good result; every creditor who has 
gone there is paying his debts. Claims not deemed 
worth a farthing are now cashed on presentation at 
nature's great bank. This has rendered the credit 
of every man here good for almost any amount. 
Orders for merchandise are honored which six 
months ago would have been thrown into the fire. 
There is none so poor, who has two stout arms and 
a pickaxe left, but he can empty any store in Monte- 
rey. Nor has the first instance yet occurred, in 
which the creditor has suffered. All distinctions in- 
dicative of means have vanished ; the only capital 
required is muscle and an honest purpose. I met a 
man to-day from the mines in patched buckskins, 
rough as a badger from his hole, who had fifteen 
thousand dollars in yellow dust, swung at his back. 
Talk to him of brooches, gold-headed canes, and Car- 
penter's coats ! Why he can unpack a lump of gold 
that would throw all Chesnut-street into spasms. 
And there is more where this came from. His rights 
in the great domain are equal to yours, and his 



25fi THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

prospects of getting it out vastly better. With these 
advantages, he bends the knee to no man, but 
strides along in his buckskins, a lord of earth by a 
higher prescriptive privilege than what emanates 
from the partiality of kings. His patent is medallion- 
ed with rivers which roll over golden sands, and 
embossed with mountains which have lifted for ages 
their golden coronets to heaven. Clear out of the 
way with your crests, and crowns, and pedigree trees, 
and let this democrat pass. Every drop of blood in 
his veins tells that it flows from a great heart, which 
God has made and which man shall never enslave. 
Such are the genuine sons of California ; such may 
they live and die. 

" They will not be the tyrant's slaves, 
While heaven has light, or earth has graves." 



ixai as a loHeii of his 

^I'tune, as I was on 

;uard against 

to prevent 

he govern- 

it and day. 

v_.ar* 



257 



CHAPTER XIX. 

TOUR TO THE GOLD-MINES. — LOSS OF HORSES. FIRST NIGHT IN THE "WOODS. 

ARRIVAL AT SAN JUAN. UNDER WAY. CAMPING OUT. BARK OF THE 

"WOLVES. "WATCH-FIRES. SAN JOSE. A FRESH START. CAMPING ON 

THE SLOPE OF A HILL. "WILD FEATURES OF THE COUNTRY. ^VALLEY OF 

THE SAN JOAQUIN. BAND OF "WILD HORSES. 

Wednesday, Sept. 20. A servant of James 
McKinley, Esq., led to my door this morning a beau- 
tiful saddle-horse, with a message from his master, 
desiring me to accept the animal as a token of his 
regard. The gift was most opportune, as I was on 
the eve of a trip to the gold-mines. To guard against 
contingencies I purchased another, and, to prevent 
their being stolen, placed them both in the govern- 
ment coral, w^here a w^atch is posted night and day. 
My companions on the trip were to be Capt. Marcy, 
son of the late secretary of war, Mr. Botts, naval 
storekeeper, and Mr. Wilkinson, son of our ex- 
minister to Russia. 

Having procured a suitable w^agon, w^e freighted it 
lightly with provisions, articles of Indian traffic, tools 
for working in the mines, cooking utensils, and blank- 
ets to sleep in. To this we attached four mules, but 
little used to the harness, and of no great power, but 
they were the best that could be got at the time. 
The whole was put under the charge of a man w^ho 
was half sailor and half teamster, and not much of 
22* 



258 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

either. Thus accoutred, the team was sent ahead, 
and we were to follow the next day. 

Thursday, Sept. 21. The hour for starting having 
arrived, I sent my man to the government coral for 
my horses. He returned in a few moments with the 
intelligence that a party of the volunteers had broken 
into the coral during the night, and carried off ten 
horses, and among them both of mine ! There was no 
time now for ferreting out thieves, or hunting stolen 
animals. Our wagon was on the way, and my com- 
panions were mounted and waiting. I hurried to Mr. 

S , who I knew had a fine horse in his yard, and 

offered him two hundred dollars for the animal, but 
he dechned parting with him. My only resource 

now was with Mr. T , who had three horses in 

his coral, but they were off a long journey the night 
before. I struck a bargain at a hundred dollars for 
one of them, and throwing on my saddle, was under 
way in a few minutes. 

My horse held out pretty well for twenty miles, 
and then suddenly broke down. We were on the 
plain of the Salinas, and there was but little prospect 
of my being able to procure a substitute. But just at 
this crisis the mail rider hove in sight, with a horse 
in lead. I arranged with him for the spare animal, 
transferred my saddle to him, and with a farewell to 
my wearied steed, started again. We had directed 
our wagoner to proceed to San Juan, and expected 
to overtake him at that place before dark. But night 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 259 

set in while we were eight or ten miles distant, and it 
was a night of Egyptian darkness. We lost our way, 
and brought up in the woods. To proceed was im- 
possible ; so we dismounted, tied our horses together, 
felt for some dry leaves, and fired them with a lucifer 
which had been given us by a traveller an hour be- 
fore. 

With brush and bits of bark we managed to sustain 
our fire, but our prospect for the night was rather 
gloomy — without a drop of water, without any food, 
without an overcoat or blanket to cover us, with 
heavy thunder over head, and the wolves barking 
around. But we divided ourselves into four watches ; 
one was to keep up the fire while the other three 
slept, and each take his turn in feeding the flame. 
My watch came first, and it was the longest two 
hours I ever experienced. Every old snag I drew to 
the fire seemed to exhaust the little strength that re- 
mained. My eyelids would fall, and it seemed im- 
possible to lift them. I heard the wolves bark, but it 
was like a noise in one's dream. But my relief came 
at last, and throwing myself down close to the fire, I 
slept too sound even for the thunder. It was the cold 
dim gray of advancing morn when I awoke. A ride 
of an hour brought us to San Juan, where we found 
our baggage-wagon at a stream, the mules tethered, 
and whistling a piteous welcome to our steeds, and 
the driver blowing into a bundle of reeds and straw, 
from which a slender thread of smoke was rising into 
the chilt atmosphere. 



2G0 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 



San Juan is thirty-four miles from Monterey ; the 
only buildings are a gigantic church and the contig- 
uous dwelling — once occupied by the priests and their 
Indian neophytes. The sanctuary remains ; but the 
priests are gone, and the Indians are on the four 
winds, save those over whom the pine sings its re- 
quiem. We broke our long fast on hard bread, 
broiled pork, and coffee without milk. The sun was 
high when our mules were harnessed, and the crack 
of the driver's whip told that we were on the way. 
A few miles brought us to the foot of a hill ; when 
half-way up our mules balked, and the wagon began 
to travel backward. We blocked the wheels, and 
tried to cheer and force them on ; but a mule has 
that peculiar virtue which is insensible alike to flat- 
teries and frowns. Still we coaxed, and whipped, and 
cheered, but in vain — there stuck our old w^agon, fast 
as a thunder-cloud on a mountain's bluff. We had 
to turn lighters, and carry the greater part of the 
load, by hand, to the top of the hill. One of the 
mules whistled out in seeming derision ; while his 
fellow looked sorry, as if smitten with compunction. 
This delay consumed several hours, and the sun was 
far down his western slope when we reached a few 
shanties on a plain covered in spots with the surviv- 
ing verdure of the year : here we camped for the 
nicjht. One tethered the animals : two brought wood 
and water ; and one turned cook. We made our 
supper by the light of our watch-fire, smoked our 
cigars, and turned down upon the earth, with our 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 261 

saddles for our pillows. A blanket served to protect 
each from the dews and the night air. How Uttle 
man w^ants here ! His palace seems to tower in idle 
grandeur, between a cradle and a coffin. 

Friday, Sept. 22. Day glimmered over the hills 
and we wxre up ; the gathered brands of our watch- 
fire kindled again under our camp-kettle. Our break- 
fast was soon dispatched, our mules in harness, our 
blankets stowed, and we were on the way. Ten 
miles farther, and my third horse, which I had pro- 
cured at San Juan, began to give out, and I was 
thrown upon my feet, till relieved by the opportune 
arrival^of a gentleman with a spare horse, which I 
purchased at his own price, leaving my own to shift 
for himself. When on my feet, my thoughts ran bit- 
terly back to the two fine horses with which I had 
expected to leave Monterey. We are the least for- 
giving when we feel most the need of that of which 
we have been robbed. 

Our road lay through a level plain, into which the 
spur of a mountain range had thrown its bold ter- 
minus. Doubling this, we wound into a deep cove, 
where wild oats waved, and a copious spring gushed 
from a cleft of the rock. It was yet two hours to 
sunset ; but the next stream lay ten miles ahead, and 
we decided to camp where w^e were. Our horses 
and mules were turned into the ample cove unte- 
thered ; and in half an hour we had gathered suffi- 
cient wood for a strong fire through the night. We 



262 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

were near the rancho of Mr. Murphy, and the kind 
old gentleman called, and invited us to his house ; 
but we deemed it more prudent \o stay by our ani- 
mals. Our supper of hard bread, broiled pork, and 
coffee was quickly prepared, and as quickly disposed 
of. The shadows of eve fell fast ; we arranged our 
watches for the night ; and each, in his blanket 
wound, composed himself to sleep. Mine was the 
mid-watch : I found the camp-fire bright, and the 
cliffs around lit with its rays. I numbered the ani- 
mals to see that none had strayed, and then sat down 
to watch the motions of a wolf, who was reconnoiter- 
ing our camp, with step asj^t and ipw — 




/ 



" As that of man oif^uilty errand bent." / 



Saturday, Sept. 23. We broke can^, were up 
and away while the dew was yet fresh on the grass. 
Ten miles brought us to Fisher's rancho, where we 
procured soft bread and fresh milk. But our animals 
fared hard ; the grasshoppers had been there before 
them. We had yet three hours of sun when we 
reached the lagoon near San Jose, but camped there 
on account of the grass. A shanty stood near by, 
where we procured a few potatoes and onions, and a 
piece of fresh meat, with which we made a stew — 
quite a luxury on a California .road. The owner of 
the shanty invited me to a night's lodging, which I 
accepted, but found my host much more hospitable 
than his fleas, for I was driven back to my camp be- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 263 

fore midnight. A California flea is not be trifled 
with ; his nippers drive you into spasms. 

Sunday, Sept. 24. This is the Sabbath, and we 
are in San Jose, in the house of Dr. Stokes, to whose 
hospitahty we are indebted for a good table and quiet 
apartments. I must here relate a domestic incident 
in the doctor's family, which fell under my eye while 
he resided at Monterey, and which pictured itself 
strongly on my mind. It was evening, and the hour 
for rest with the children, when six little boys and 
girls knelt around the chair of their father, repeating 
the Lord's prayer, and closing with the invocation — 
" God bless our dear parents, and brothers, and sis- 
ters, and grant that we meet in heaven at last." 
Then came the good-night, and the cheerful foot- 
steps to the chamber of soft sleep. What are gold 
mines to this ? A glow-worm's light beneath a star 
that shall never set ! 

Monday, Sept. 25. San Jose is sixty-five miles 
from Monterey, and stands in the centre of a spacious 
valley which opens on the great bay of San Francis- 
co. It is cultivated only in spots, but the immense 
yield in these is sufficient evidence of what the valley 
is capable. A plough and harrow, at which a New 
England crow would laugh, are followed by fields of 
waving grain. Within this valley lie the rich lands 
of Com. Stockton, and they will yet feel the force of 
his vivifying enterprise. The mission buildings of 



2o4 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Santa Clara lift their huge proportions on the eye. 
The bells that swing in their towers are silent, but 
they will yet find a tongue and fill the clifTs with their 
glad echoes. The Anglo-Saxon blood will yet roll 
here as if in its first leap. 

Such are the representations of the roads between 
this and the mines, that we have concluded to part 
with our wagon and pack our mules. Mr. Botts, one 
of our companions, has received intelligence which 
requires his return to Monterey. We must proceed 
without his agreeable society. Wm. Stewart, Esq., 
secretary of Com. Jones, and Lieut. Simmons, of the 
Ohio, have just arrived, on their way to the mines. 
Two of our mules were now packed, the third mount- 
ed by our wagoner, and the fourth driven, to guard 
against contingencies. Thus equipped, we started 
again for the mines ; but we had hardly cleared the 
town when one of our mules took fright, plunged over 
the plain, burst his girth, and scattered on the winds 
the contents of his pack. Capt. Marcy and Mr. Wil- 
kinson, with the mules and their driver, returned into 
town to repack, and I proceeded on in the company 
of Mr. Stewart and Lieut. Simmons. 

We passed the mission of San Jose, which stands 
three leagues from the town. The massive propor- 
tions of the church lay in shadow, but the crowning 
cross was lit with the rays of the descending sun. 
No hum of busy streets or jocund voice of childhood 
saluted the ear. No eye regarded us but that of the 
owl gazing in wise wonder from his ivy tower; He 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 265 

seemed to marvel at the vanity that had brought us 
here ; and as we hurried past on our gold destination, 
sent after us an ominous hoot ! The purple twilight 
was settling fast when we reached a stream singing 
along between the slopes of two hills. Here we 
camped for the night. The grass was scanty and the 
ground uneven, but it was now too late to look for 
other spots. The dry willows, which skirted the 
stream, furnished us with fuel. The lid of our coffee 
kettle was soon trembling over the steam, while the 
fresh steaks, curling on the coals, scented the evening 
air. Our supper over, we talked of friends far away, 
and spread our blankets for the night. The ground 
was so descending I put a stone at my feet to keep 
from slipping down, but must have rolled from my 
pedestal, for on awaking at daybreak, I found myself 
at the foot of the slope, and close on the verge of the 
bubbling stream. My ground-blanket remained where 
it had been spread, though it seemed higher up the 
hill, as I clambered back to it from my somnambulic 
roll. 

Tuesday, Sept. 26. My companions, who had re 
turned to San Jose to repack the mules, arrived at 
our camp about mid-day, accompanied by W. R. 
Garner, so long my secretary in the office of alcalde. 
Our own horses were soon saddled, and we were of^ 
all the more light-hearted for this accession to our 
numbers. Our road lay through a rolling country 
covered with live-oak and pine, and through small 

23 



266 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

prairies, cradled in emerald repose among the hills. It 
was quite dark when we reached the small farm- 
house of Mr. Livermore. Here we camped. A snag- 
fence supplied us with fuel, and Mr. L. furnished us 
with a sheep ready dressed. Our large camp-fire 
sent up its waving flame, which threw its red light 
over a group gathered around in every attitude which 
hunger and culinary care could assume. What was 
the howl of the wolves on the hills to us, engaged in 
picking the bones of that sheep ? A camp-life teaches 
you the value of three things — meat, salt, and fire ; 
with these you can travel the globe round. 

Wednesday, Sept. 27. The night had been dark, 
the wind bleak, and the rack was driving on the sky, 
when the first rays of the sun kindled the soaring 
cHfFs. We had the great Tulare plain to pass, and 
lost no time in finishing our breakfast and effecting 
an early start. Crossing the plain attached to the 
rancho, which we had left, our road lay among steep 
conical hills feathered with pine, and pyramids of 
rock piled in naked majesty. From these we opened 
on the great plain of the San Joaquin, stretching 
away like a Sahara, and without an object on which 
the eye could rest. The sun was hot, and not a 
breath of wind crept over the cheerless expanse. A 
column of cloud, soaring on the distant horizon, 
showed where the fearful flame was at work. 

We were now in the midst of the plain, when a 
moving object, dim and distant, rapidly advanced 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 267 

into more distinct vision. It was a band of wild 
horses, rushing down the plain like a foaming torrent 
to the sea. 

" With flowing tail and flying mane, 
With nostrils never stretched by pain, 
Mouths bloodless to the bit or rein ; 
And feet that iron never shod, 
And flanks unscarred by spur or rod, 
A thousand horse — the wild, the free — 
Like waves that follow o'er the sea — 
Came thickly thundering on." 

We instantly seized the halters of our pack-mules, 
and not knowing whether to advance or retreat, 
waited the issue where we stood. They swept past 
us but a short distance ahead, heeding us as little as 
the Niagara the reeds that tremble on it« bank. The 
very ground shook with the thunder of their hoofs. 
Their arching necks and flowing mane, their glossy 
flanks and sinewy bound made you begrudge them 
their freedom. You thought what a flight you might 
make on them into the mines. It seemed a pity that 
so much celerity and strength should be thrown 
away upon a stampede. 

As we advanced the line of the horizon began to 
lift itself into irregular shapes, like a broken coast 
at sea. These emerging forms proved to be the 
broad tops of a belt of trees, which seemed not more 
than half a league distant, but which retreated as 
we advanced, like the bow which childhood pursues. 
It was a weary ride before we reached them, but 



268 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the tedium of the way was relieved by several ad- 
ventures among the wild geese, which hovered near 
our path in immense flocks. Mr. Stewart, who is an 
excellent shot, brought several to the ground : with 
these trophies we camped for the night. Some water- 
ed and tethered the animals, others gathered wood, 
and others ground the coffee and picked the geese. 
Having in our panniers a few onions and potatoes, 
with a piece of pork, we prepared for a stew. But 
our geese must have been the goslins of those that 
went into the ark, for neither fire nor steam could 
make an impression on their sinewy forms. We 
tried them with the puncture of our long knives ; 
found them tough as ever, and then swung off* the 
pot. There was enough, with bread and coffee, with- 
out the gees», and as we threw the legs and wings 
this way and that, an owl watched the flying frag- 
ments, as much as to say, it is an ill wind that blows 
nobody any good. 



269 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE GRAVE OF A GOLD-HUNTER. MOUNTAIN SPURS. A COMPANY OF SONO- 

RANIANS. A NIGHT ALARM. FIRST VIEW OF THE MINES. CHARACTER 

OF THE DEPOSITS. A WOMAN AND HER PAN. REMOVAL TO OTHER 

MINES. WILD INDIANS AND THEIR WEAPONS. COST OF PROVISIONS. 

A PLUNGE INTO A GOLD RIVER. MACHINES USED BY THE GOLD-DIGGERS. 

Thursday, Sept. 28. We slept soundly last night. 
The sun had been up an hour before we finished our 
coffee and vaulted into our saddles. A short ride 
brought us to the San Joaquin river, which we 
crossed in the primitive way. We threw our sad- 
dles and packs into a boat, and then getting in our- 
selves, rowed off, leading at the sterti one of our 
little mules, called Nina. The horses being driven 
in, followed in her wake and swam to the opposite 
bank. The moment they reached the shore, every 
one lay down and rolled, covering himself with a 
layer of sand. My own for once seemed to have 
caught the mine fever, and without waiting for the 
saddle, much less his rider, went snorting up the 
bank. 

A mile or two further on, and we passed the grave 
of one whom I had known well in Monterey. He 
was a young man of many amiable and excellent 
qualities ; w^as on his way to the mines ; but in 
crossing a gulch, now entirely dry, but through 
which a freshet then swept, became entangled with 

23* 



270 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the gearing of his horses, and was drowned. An 
evergreen tree throws its perpetual shadows on the 
mound where he rests, and the wild birds sing his 
requiem. His widowed mother, who dwells by the 
rushing tide of the Missouri, will long look for his re- 
turn, and still doubt in her grief the story of his 
death. But never will her eyes again rest on his. 
Till the heavens be no more he shall not awake, nor 
be raised out of his sleep. 

Our road for ten miles lay through a level plain 
corresponding in its cheerless aspect to that we had 
passed on the other side of the San Joaquin. We 
encountered a drove of wild elk with their forest of 
branching horns, but they kept be^^ond the range of 
our rifles, and our horses were too tired to be put on 
the pursuit. We had only the satisfaction of venting, 
in words, our spleen on their speedy but little cared 
they for that. They run away at times, as it would 
seem, from their own horns, for our road was strewn 
with these cast-off coronets. 

Leaving the plain we ascended into a rolling coun- 
try lightly timbered with oak, pine, and birch. We 
wound rapidly forward, till we encountered a stream, 
and a plot of green grass which had escaped the fire 
that had been straggling about among the hills. We 
were without a guide, and on a trail which at times 
became rather faiftt and difficult, and no one knew 
where we might next meet with water, so we teth- 
ered, collected our wood for the night, and lit our 
camp-fire. We had no more potatoes or onions for 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 271 

a stew, and made our supper on broiled pork, hard 
bread, and coffee. We had our saddles for our pil- 
lows, the green earth for our couch, and the bright 
stars to light us to our rest. 

Friday, Sept. 29. One of our company discov- 
ered near our camp this morning a little lake, with 
fish darting about in its lucid waters. Our twine 
was soon out and hooked, the alder supplied us with 
poles, and we answered exactly to Dr. Johnson's defi- 
nition of angling — " Line and rod, with a worm at 
one end and a fool at the other," for not a fish would 
bite ; they were not to be caught with a poor wrig- 
gling worm, when golden flies were floating about. 
They were fish of a better taste ; and we had to 
breakfast as we had done before, on broiled pork, 
hard bread, and coffee. A famished crow, as if in 
sympathy with our wants, rattled his bones near by 
on a dry limb. 

The trail which we were following accommodated 
itself to the wild country through which it lay. The 
bold bluff* and deep chasm bent it into a constant 
succession of quick circles and sharp angles. The 
head of our train was never in sight of those who 
occupied the rear, except when we wound over those 
more gradual slopes which here and there relieved 
the ruggedness of the landscape. We met a com- 
pany of Californians about mid-day, on their return 
from the mines, and a more forlorn looking group 



272 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

never knocked at the gate of a pauper asylum. They 
were most of them dismounted, with rags fastened 
round their bhstered feet, and with clubs in their 
hands, with which they were trying to force on their 
skeleton animals. They inquired for bread and 
meat : we had but little of either, but shared it with 
them. They took from one of their packs a large 
bag of gold, and began to shell out a pound or two in 
payment. We told them they were welcome ; still 
they seemed anxious to pay, and we were obliged to 
be positive in our refusal. This company, as I after- 
wards ascertained, had with them over a hundred 
thousand dollars in grain gold. One of them had the 
laigest lump that had yet been found ; it weighed 
over twenty pounds ; and he seemed almost ready to 
part with it for a mess of pottage. What is gold 
where there is nothing to eat ? — the gilded fly of the 
angler in a troutless stream. 

Saturday, Sept. 30. We camped last night in a 
forest, where a small opening let in the sun's rays 
upon a plot of green grass and a sparlding spring. 
Our slumbers were broken in the night by the dis- 
charge of a pistol by one of our company, who saw, 
or thought he saw, a wolf snuffling about his blanket. 
We seized our arms, thinking the wild Indians were 
upon us, but found no enemy. It was probably the 
phantom of a disturbed dream. We scolded the 
young man soundly who gave the alarm, and turned 
down on the earth again to finish our night's repose. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 273 

The scenery, as we advanced, became more wild 
and picturesque. The hills lost their gentle slopes, 
and took the form of steep and rugged cones : the 
mountain ranges were broken by dark and rugged 
gorges ; over crags that toppled high in air, the soar- 
ing pine threw its wild music on the wind ; while 
merry streams dashed down the precipitous rocks, as 
if in haste to greet the green vale below. A short 
distance beyond us lay the richest gold mines that had 
yet been discovered ; and nature, as if to guard her 
treasures, had thrown around them a steep mountain 
barrier. This frowning wall seemed as if riven in 
some great convulsion. The broad chasm, like a 
break in a huge Roman aqueduct, dropped to the 
level plain ; while the bold bluffs of the severed bar- 
rier gazed at each other in savage grandeur. Beyond 
this gateway, a valley wandered for some distance, 
and then expanded into a plain, in the midst of which 
stood a beautiful grove of oak and pine. Crossing 
this, we wound over a rough, rocky elevation, and 
turned suddenly into a ravine, up which we discov- 
ered a line of tents glittering in the sun's rays. We 
were in the gold mines ! I jumped from my horse, 
took a pick, and in five minutes found a piece of gold 
large enough to make a signet-ring. 

We had the unexpected pleasure of meeting here 
Gov. Mason and Capt. Sherman, who had arrived the 
evening before in their tour of observation ; and Dr. 
Ord, recently of the army, and Mr. Taylor, of Mon- 
terey. They invited us to their camp and a supper 



274 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

which we enjoyed with a keen relish. If you want 
to know what it is to have an appetite, which scruples 
at nothing and enjoys every thing, travel on horse- 
back and sleep in the open air. Railroads and hotels 
are the graves of invalids. But I forgot our horses : 
we could find no grass ; there was a poor pasture 
several miles distant ; but it was now near sunset ; 
we gathered acorns for them, which a horse will eat 
when pinched with hunger. Our camp-fire was kin- 
dled, and we rolled down for the night. 

Sunday, Oct. 1. Another Sabbath, and our first 
in the mines. But here and there a digger has re- 
sumed his work. With most it is a day of rest, not 
so much perhaps from religious scruples, as a convic- 
tion that the system requires and must have repose. 
He is a blind philosopher, as well as a stupid Chris- 
tian, who cannot see, even in the physical benefits of 
the Sabbath, motives sufficient to sanctify its observ- 
ance. He must be a callous soul, who, with the hope 
of heaven in his dreams, can wantonly profane its 
spirit. 

Monday, Oct. 2. I went among the gold-diggers ; 
found half a dozen at the bottom of the ravine, tear- 
ing up the bogs, and up to their knees in mud. Be- 
neath these bogs lay a bed of clay, sprinkled in spots 
with gold. These deposits, and the earth mixed with 
them, were shovelled into bowls, taken to a pool near 
by, and washed out. The bowl, in working, is held 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 275 

in both hands, whirled violently back and forth 
through half a circle, and pitched this way and that 
sufficiently to throw off the earth and water, while 
the gold settles to the bottom. The process is ex- 
tremely laborious, and taxes the entire muscles of the 
frame. In its effect it is more like swinging a scythe 
than any work I ever attempted. 

Not having much relish for the bogs and mud, I 
procured a light crowbar and went to splitting the slate- 
rocks which project into the ravine. I found between 
the layers, which were not perfectly closed, particles 
of gold, resembling in shape the small and delicate 
scales of a fish. These were easily scraped from the 
slate by a hunter's knife, and readily separated in the 
wash-bowl from all foreign substances. The layers 
in which they were found generally inclined from a 
vertical or horizontal position, and formed an acute 
angle with the bank of the ravine, in the direction of 
the current. In the reverse of this position, and 
where the inclination was with the current, they 
rarely contained any gold. The inference would 
seem to be, that these deposits are made \)y the cur- 
rents when swelled by the winter rains, and poured 
in a rushing tide down these channels. It is only the 
most rapid stream that can carry this treasure, and 
even that must soon resign it to some eddy, or the 
rock that paves its footsteps. 

The e are about seventy persons at work in this 
ravine, and all within a few yards of each other. 
They average about one ounce per diem each. They 



276 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

who get less are discontented, and they who get more 
are not satisfied. Every day brings in some fresh 
report of richer discoveries in some quarter not far 
remote, and the diggers are consequently kept in a 
state of feverish excitement. One woman, a Sonora- 
nian, who was washing here, finding at the bottom 
of her bowl only the amount of half a dollar or so, 
hurled it back again into the water, and straightening 
herself up to her full height, strode off with the indig- 
nant air of one who feels himself insulted. Poor 
woman ! how little thou knowest of those patient 
females, who in our large cities make a shirt or vest 
for ten cents ! Were an ounce of diamonds to fall 
into one of our hands every day, we should hold out 
the other just as eager and impatient as if its fellow 
were empty. Such is human nature ; and a misera- 
ble thing it is, too, especially when touched with the 
gold fever. 

Tuesday, Oct. 3. We parted to-day with the so- 
ciety of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Simmons : they were 
on a tour of observation ; were bound to Sutter's 
Fort, and availed themselves of the company of Gov. 
Mason and Capt. Sherman, who were going in the 
same direction ; may they have an agreeable journey, 
and each find a lump of gold as big as Vulcan's anvil. 
We ordered up our own horses, packed our mules, 
and started for a ravine some seven miles distant. 
Our path lay over the spur of a mountain, so rugged 
and steep that we were obliged to dismount. The 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 277 

soaring masses were piled around us in the wildest 
sublimity, presenting those thunder-scarred fronts 
which the volcano in its terrific energy throws into 
the eye of the sun. You had a dim persuasion that 
some fearful charm, some unseen treasure lurked in 
the sunless recesses of these stupendous piles ; and so 
it seemed, for out walked a grizzly bear from a moun- 
tain gorge, and fixed his burning eyes steadfastly on 
us. Not being certain of our rifles, as we had not 
used them for several days, we deemed prudence the 
better part of valor, and gave the old monarch of the 
woods a pretty wide berth. 

We examined several spots on our route for gold, 
but found none, either on the table-rock, or in the 
channels of the mountain streams. If it ever existed 
there, it had been swept below, or remained in the 
veins of the rock beyond the reach of pickaxe and 
spade. On the plain we fell in with the camp of Mr. 
Murphy, who invited us into his tent, and set before 
us refreshments that Would have graced a scene less 
wild than this. His tent is pitched in the midst of a 
small tribe of wild Indians who gather gold for him, 
and receive in return provisions and blankets. He 
knocks down two bullocks a day to furnish them with 
meat. Though never before within the wake of 
civilization, they respect his person and property. 
This, however, is to be ascribed in part to the fact 
that he has married the daughter of the chief — a 
young woman of many personal attractions, and full 
of that warm wild love which makes her the Haide 

24 



278 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

of the woods. She is the queen of the tribe, and 
walks among them with the air of one on whom au- 
thority sets as a native grace, — a charm which all 
feel, and of which she seems the least conscious. 

The men and boys were busy with their bows and 
arrows. A difficulty had arisen between this tribe 
and one not far remote, and they were expecting an 
attack. Though the less powerful tribe of the two, 
they seemed not the least dismayed. The old men 
looked stern and grave, but the boys were full of glee 
as if mustering for a deer-hunt. The mothers with 
Spartan coolness were engaged in pointing arrows 
with flint stones, so shaped that they easily penetrate 
and break off' in the effort to extract them, and always 
leave an ugly wound. They project these arrows 
from their bows with incredible force, often burying 
them to the feather in the luckless elk ; the deer gives 
his last life-bound and falls, while the unsuspecting 
foe drops unwarned from his saddle. I saw no signs 
of intoxication among these Irldians, and was told by 
Mr. Murphy that he allowed no liquors in the camp. 
He said a trader brought there a few days since a 
barrel of rum, and that he gave him exactly five 
minutes in which to decide whether he would quit 
the grounds, or have the head of the barrel knocked 
in. He of course took his fire-curse to some other 
place. 

Wednesday, Oct. 4. Our camping-ground is in a 
broad ravine through which a rivulet wanders, and 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 279 

which is dotted with the frequent tents of gold-dig- 
gers. The sounds of the crowbar and pick, as they 
shake or shiver the rock, are echoed from a thousand 
chfTs ; while the hum of human voices rolls off on 
the breeze to mingle with the barking of wolves, 
who regard with no friendly eyes this intrusion into 
their solitude. They resemble their great progene- 
trix, trembling in stone, as the Vandals broke into 
Rome. But little care the gold-diggers about the 
wolves, it is enough for them to know that this ra- 
vine contains gold ; and it must be dug out, though an 
earthquake may slumber beneath. If you want to 
find men prepared to storm the burning threshold of 
the infernal prison, go among gold-diggers. 

The provisions with which we left San Jose are gone, 
and we have been obliged to supply ourselves here. 
We pay at the rate of four hundred dollars a barrel 
for flour ; four dollars a pound for poor brown sugar, 
and four dollars a pound for indifferent coffee. And 
as for meat, there is none to be got except jerked- 
beef, which is the flesh of the bullock cut into strings 
and hung up in the sun to dry, and which has about 
as much juice in it as a strip of bark dangling in the 
wind from a dead tree. Still, when moistened and 
toasted, it will do something towards sustaining life ; 
so also will the sole of your shoe. And yet I have 
seen men set and grind it as if it were nutritious and 
sweetly flavored. Oh ye who lose your temper be- 
cause your sirloin has rolled once too much on the spit, 
come to the mines of California and eat jerked-beef! 



280 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Thursday, Oct. 5. The rivulet, which waters the 
ravine, collects here and there into deep pools. Over 
one of these a low limb had thrown itself, upon which 
I ventured out with an apparatus for scooping up the 
sand at the bottom. But just as I had lowered my 
dipper the limb broke, and down I went to the chin 
in w^ater. It was some minutes before I could extri- 
cate myself, and when I did there was not a dry 
thread on my body. The chill of the stream reduced 
the gold fever in me very considerably. I had 
brought no outward garments but those in which I 
stood ; I wrung out the water and hung them up in 
the sun to dry, and w^ound myself, like an Indian, in 
my blanket. But I was not more savage in my as- 
pect than in my feelings. This, however, soon passed 
off, and I could laugh with others at the gold plunge. 
But nothing is a novelty here for more than a min- 
ute ; were a man to cast his skin or lose his head, no 
one would stop to inquire if he had recovered either, 
unless they suspected foul play, and then they would 
arraign and execute the culprit before one of our law- 
yers could pen an indictment. 

Friday, Oct. 6. The most efficient gold-washer 
here is the cradle, which resembles in shape that ap- 
pendage of the nursery, from which it takes its name. 
It is nine or ten feet long, open at one end and closed 
at the other. At the end which is closed, a sheet-iron 
pan, four inches deep, and sixteen over, and perfo- 
rated in the bottom with holes, is let in even with 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 281 

the sides of the cradle. The earth is thrown into the 
pan, water turned on it, and the cradle, which is on 
an inclined plane, set in motion. The earth and 
water pass through the pan, and then down the cra- 
dle, while the gold, owing to its specific gravity, is 
caught by cleets fastened across the bottom. Very 
little escapes ; it generally lodges before it reaches 
the last cleet. It requires four or five men to supply 
the earth and water to work such a machine to ad- 
vantage. The quantity of gold washed out must de- 
pend on the relative proportion of gold in the earth. 
The one worked in this ravine yields a hundred dol- 
lars a day ; but this is considered a slender result. 
Most of the diggers use the bowl or pan ; its lightness 
never embarrasses their roving habits ; and it can be 
put in motion wherever they may find a stream or 
spring. It can be purchased now in the mines for 
five or six dollars ; a few months since it cost an 
ounce — sixteen dollars for a wooden bowl ! But I 
have seen twenty-four dollars paid for a box of seid- 
litz-powders, and forty dollars for as many drops of 

laudanum. 

24* 



282 



CHAPTER XXI. 

LUMP OF GOLD LOST. — INDIANS AT THEIR GAME OF ARROWS. — CAMP 

OF THE GOLD-HUNTERS. A SONORANIAN GOLD-DIGGER. SABBATH IN THE 

MINES. — THE GIANT WELCHMAN. — NATURE OF GOLD DEPOSITS. — AVERAGE 
PER MAN. NEW DISCOVERIES. 

Saturday, Oct. 7. I had come to the mines with- 
out a pick, but this morning fell in with a trader who 
had one for sale : his price was ten dollars in specie, 
or eighteen in gold dust. I gave him the specie ; the 
pick weighed about four pounds, was of rude manu- 
facture, and without a handle ; but this appendage 
was readily supplied from the Hmb of an ash. Thus 
accoutred I strode down the ravine, not doubting but 
what I should, before night, strike upon some deposit 
which would fill my pockets. Passing groups who 
were engaged in digging into this bank and that, I 
fell in with a sailor, whom I recognized as one of the 
men who had been honorably discharged from the 
Savannah. He was groping about as if in quest of 
something he had lost. " What is the matter, Jones ?" 
I inquired ; he sprung to his feet, gave me his rough 
hand, and pointed to a cliff which overhung the glen. 
" There, on that crag," said he, " I have been at work 
ever since the peep of day, and got out several bits 
of gold, and one good-sized lump : I put them in my 
tin cup, when, striking away again, my pick glanced, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 283 

struck the cup, and knocked it, gold and all, half-way 
across this ravine ; and I might as well hunt a clam 
in the Pacific as that gold, though it was a jewel of a 
piece — the biggest I have seen here." So I laid down 
my pick, ascended the cliff, ascertained, as near as 
possible, the direction in which the cup flew, and 
commenced the search. Every bunch of leaves, eve- 
ry hole and gulley were examined, and the cup re- 
covered, but the gold was not in it. 

Fatigued, I threw myself into the shade of a scrub- 
oak, and went to sleep ; but the gold of poor Jones 
glanced through my dreams. I saw, in that fantastic 
realm, a small birch-tree, a bubbling spring at its 
root, and in its fount a piece of gold. I seemed to 
know at the time it was only a dream ; still the pic- 
ture remained in my mind so clear, so distinct, that 
on awaking I identified at a glance the birch, and 
springing to its root found the little fount, and with a 
hoe fetched up the piece of gold ! — the same that had 
been lost, for none other could answer so exactly to 
the description which had been given. It weighed 
about three ounces, but did not seem larger than the 
sparkling eye of the sailor as I placed it in his hand. 
They may laugh who will at dreams, but now and 
then some Sibyl leaf floats through them. I tried to 
dream again where gold might be found ; saw plenty 
of birch-trees and fountains, but never discovered an 
ingot in either. 

Monday, Oct. 9. On returning to our camping- 



284 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

tree this afternoon, I found three wild Indians quietly 
squatted in its shade. They had been attracted there 
by a red belt, which hung from one of the limbs. 
They could speak only their native dialect, not a 
word of which could I understand. We had to make 
ourselves intelligible by signs. They wanted to pur- 
chase the belt, and each laid down a piece of gold, 
which were worth in the aggregate some two hun- 
dred dollars. I took one of the pieces, and gave the 
Indian to whom it belonged the belt. They made 
signs for a piece of coin ; I offered them an eagle, 
but it was not what they wanted, — a Spanish mill 
dollar, but they wanted something smaller, — a fifty- 
cent piece, and they signified it would do. Taking 
the coin they fastened it in the end of a stick, so as 
to expose nearly the entire circle, and set it up about 
forty yards distant. They then cast lots by a bone, 
which they threw into the air, for the order in which 
they should discharge their arrows. The one who 
had the first shot, drew his long sinewy bow and 
missed ; the second, he missed ; the third, and he 
missed, — though the arrow of each flew so near the 
coin it would have killed a deer at that distance. 
The second now shot first and grazed the coin ; then 
the third, who broke his string and shot with the bow 
of the second, but missed ; and now the first took his 
turn, and struck the coin, whirling it off at a great 
distance. The other two gave him the belt, which 
he tied around his head instead of his blanket, and 
away they started over the hills, full of wild life and 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 285 

glee, leaving the coin, as a thing of no importance, in 
the bushes where it had been whirled. 

Tuesday, Oct. 10. My companions, who have 
been out on a gold-hunt for several hours, have just 
returned, bringing with them about an ounce of gold 
each. They are so thoroughly fatigued they prefer 
sleep to a dinner, connected with the trouble of pre- 
paring it. And there is no other way here ; every 
man is obliged to be his own cook. We have our 
henchman, it is true, but he is in a ravine some four 
miles distant, in charge of our horses and mules. If 
he will keep them from straying, or being stolen by 
the wild Indians, we shall be content to wait on our- 
selves. Several of the persons at work in the ravine 
turned their horses adrift on their arrival, which they 
might safely do, for the poor things have not got 
strength enough to climb its steep sides. They sub- 
sist on the acorns which they gather, and a few tufts 
of grass as dry and scorched as the clover over which 
the flames of Sodom rolled. But what think men of 
the hunger or thirst of dumb animals, when the gold 
fever is throwing its circle of fire around the soul. 

Wednesday, Oct. 11. It is near sunset, and the 
gold-diggers are returning from their labors, each one 
bearing on his head a brush-heap, with which he will 
kindle his evening fire. Their wild halloos, as they 
come in, fill the cliffs with their echoes. All are 
merry, whatever may have been the fortunes of the 



286 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Clay with them. Not one among the whole can an- 
ticipate a more luxm'ious supper than a cake baked 
in the ashes, with a cup of coffee and a bit of jerked- 
beef, except in the case of a new-comer, who has 
brought with him a few pounds of buckwheat flour ; 
he can/have a pancake, that is if he has any thing 
with^v^hich to grease his pan, which is extremely 
doubtful. There is not a bottle of liquor in the ra- 
vine, and every one must, per force, turn in sober. 
Every stfeamlet preaches temperance, and the wind- 
stirre(^ pine sings its soft eulogy on the charmed air. 

Thursday, Oct. 12. I found near our camp this 
morning a boulder of trap and quartz which had 
evide|rt;ly travelled some distance, as nothing of the 
km»existed in the ravine. I had no means of de- 
>hing the mass, and could with my pick only dis- 
a few of the quartz : these I found veined with 
Lt it is the only specimen of this combina- 
with which I have met. Where the fellow came 
from, I know not ; but had he tumbled into New York 
or Philadelphia, instead of this Canada, the whole 
community would have been filled with prattling 
wonders. How much the marvellous depends on cir- 
cumstances ! 

Friday, Oct. 13. I passed a few days since a 
Sonoranian at work against a steep bank of decom- 
posed granite and clay, which was so firm that he 
could hardly make an impression upon it with a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 287 

heavy sharp-pointed crowbar. " And what, my friend," 
I inquired, " are you going to get out there?" to which 
he replied, " A pocket of gold, sir, as soon as I can 
reach it.'' "And what makes you think," I con- 
tinued, " that you will find a deposit there ?" to which 
he responded, " Do you see that blow-hole on the 
other side of the ravine, where the slate rock stands 
out so rough, with a savage mouth in the centre ? 
Well, sir, that was the devil's blow-hole, and he blowed 
the gold straight across the ravine into this bank, 
where I will find it, if I work long enough." I thought 
him some half-crazy fellow, and passed on. He dug 
away all that day without reaching his pocket ; but 
on the following day took out two pounds of gold, in 
small pieces, resembling in shape the seeds of the 
watermellon. As soon as this was known, four of 
the New York volunteers struck in each side of the 
Sonoranian, and dug him out ; and the old man very 
quietly retired. The intruders dug away through the 
remainder of the day, but found no gold, and then 
quit the spot, concluding that the Sonoranian had got 
out the only pocket which existed there. The next 
morning, however, the Sonoranian renewed his attack 
on the bank, and with his sharp-pointed crowbar and 
pick, penetrated beyond the layer where the volun- 
teers had knocked off. Before night he struck an- 
other pocket, and took out a pound and a half of 
gold of the same shape and size as the other. The 
volunteers were now roused, and returned to the spot, 
determined to dig down the whole bank ; but one day 



288 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

of hard work, unrewarded by a single particle of gold, 
was enough. They quitted the bank in disgust. The 
old Sonoranian told me it contained no more pockets. 
His theory about the blow-hole is by no means confined 
to his own wild imagination ; a man by the name of 
Black, who is one of the most successful gold-hunters 
in the ravine, is guided, in his researches, by the same 
seemingly absurd theory. It is possible that these 
blow-holes, as they are called, were the vents of vol- 
canoes, performing the same functions as those found 
beneath the shaking cone of Etna. 

Saturday, Oct. 14. A party of seven Americans 
are just in from the higher slopes of the Sierra, where 
they have been prospecting for gold. They penetra- 
ted to the snow, tearing up roots, overturning rocks, 
and draining fountains, but discovering no gold. It 
is the foot range of the Sierra that contains the de- 
posits ; this has been cut into segments by rapid 
streams, rising higher up, and which have sunk their 
channels into deep gorges. " The larger portion of the 
gold, subjected to the action of these torrents, has 
been swept out upon the plain, or buried deep in 
some nearer undulation, where it will remain undis- 
turbed till the deposits nearer the surface have been ex- 
hausted. These deeper treasures, like the inhumed re- 
mains of a Herculaneum, will then be brought to light. 

Sunday, Oct. 15. A quiet day among the gold- 
diggers ; but few are at work with pick or pan ; 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 289 

small parties have gone over the hills " prospecting," 
but the masses are beneath the oak and pines, which 
shadow the canadas. Missionaries might find a field 
here in this rolling population ; the waving grain, as 
well as the still, falls before the sickle of the reaper. 
There is something inspiring in wild-wood worship ; 
you are with nature and nature's God : every thing 
around you trembles in the breath of the Almighty : 
the glad rivulet whispers his name, and the pine-grove 
pours its sweeping anthem ; your spirit soars on 
lighter wings, and religion becomes, as another has 
beautifully expressed it, the play of the soul in the 
sunbeams of God. 

Monday, Oct. 16. I encountered this morning, in 
the person of a Welchman, a pretty marked specimen 
of the gold-digger. He stood some six feet eight in 
his shoes, with giant limbs and frame. A leather 
strap fastened his coarse trowsers above his hips, and 
confined the flowing bunt of his flannel shirt. A 
broad-rimmed hat sheltered his browny features, while 
his unshorn beard and hair flowed in tangled confu- 
sion to his waist. To his back was lashed a blanket 
and bag of provisions ; on one shoulder rested a huge 
crowbar, to which were hung a gold- washer and skil- 
let ; on the other rested a rifle, a spade, and pick, from 
which dangled a cup and pair of heavy shoes. He 
recognized me as the magistrate who had once ar- 
rested him for a breach of the peace. " Well, Senor 
Alcalde," said he, " I am glad to see you in these dig- 

25 



290 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

gings. You had some trouble with me in Monterey ; 
I was on a burster ; you did your duty, and I respect 
you for it ; and now let me settle the difference be- 
tween us with a bit of gold : it shall be the first I 
strike under this bog." I told him there was no differ- 
ence between us ; that I knew at the time it was rum 
which had raised the rumpus. But before I had fin- 
ished my disclaiming speech, his traps were on the 
ground, and his heavy pick was tearing up bog after 
bog from the marl in which it had struck its tangling 
roots. These removed, he struck a layer of clay : 
" Here she comes !" he ejaculated, and turned out a 
piece of gold that would weigh an ounce or more. 
" There," said he, " Senor Alcalde, accept that ; and 
when you reach home, where I hope you will find 
all well, have a bracelet made of it for your good 
lady." 

He continued to dig around the same place, but 
during the hour I remained with him found no other 
piece of gold — not a particle. This is no uncommon 
thing ; I have seen a piece weighing six ounces taken 
from some little curve in a bank undulating in its 
bed, while not another of any size, after the most la 
borious search, could be found in its vicinity. This 
holds true of the larger pieces, but rarely of the scale 
gold. Where you find half an ounce of that, you 
may be pretty sure there is more near by. The 
same law which deposited that, has carried its results 
much further ; and you will find a clue to them in 
the curves of the channel, or the character and posi- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 291 

tion of the rocks which project into it. If the projec- 
tion is smooth, or forms an obtuse angle with the 
current, there is no gold there, and you must look to 
the eddy directly below it. This eddy, or its deposit, 
can be examined only w^hen the water has subsided. 
During the rainy season, and when the snows are 
melting on the Sierra, no such investigations can be 
successfully prosecuted. Of all metals the most diffi- 
cult to reach and secure under water is gold. It has 
a thousand modes of eluding your search, and escap- 
ing your scooping implements. 

Tuesday, Oct. 17. A German this morning, pick- 
ing a hole in the ground, near our camping-tree, for 
a tent-pole, struck a piece of gold, weighing about 
three ounces. As soon as it was known, some forty 
picks were flying into the earth all around the spot. 
You would have thought the ground had suddenly 
caved over some human being, who must be instant- 
ly disenhumed or die. But the fellow sought was 
not the companion of the digger, but the mate of the 
yellow boy accidentally found by the German. But 
no such mate was discovered ; the one found had 
slumbered thus alone like Adam before the birth of 
Eve. How solitary that couch, though in Paradise 1 
Think of that, ye devotees of celibacy, who people 
your dreams with fairies, and imagine a bliss amid 
the wa-ecks of the fall, which was not the portion of 
man even before that moral catastrophe. 

But I forget the piece of gold ; no fellow was found 



292 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

for it here ; but in a ravine, seven miles distant, a 
little girl this morning picked up what she thought a 
curious stone, and brought it to her mother, who, on 
removing the extraneous matter, found it a lump of 
pure gold, weighing between six and seven pounds. 
The news of this discovery silenced all the picks 
here for half an hour, and set as many tongues going 
in their places. Twenty or thirty started at once to 
explore the wonders of this new locality. Gold 
among hunters, like a magnet in the midst of ferrugi- 
nous bodies, attracts every thing to itself. 

Wednesday, Oct. 18. We are camped in the 
centre of the gold mines, in the heart of the richest 
deposits which have been found, and where there are 
many hundred at work. I have taken some pains to 
ascertain the average per man that is got out ; it 
must be less than half an ounce per day. It might 
be more were there any stability among the diggers ; 
but half their time is consumed in what they call 
prospecting ; that is, looking up new deposits. An 
idle rumor, or mere surmise, will carry them off in this 
direction or that, when perhaps they gathered noth- 
ing for their weariness and toil. A locality where 
an ounce a day can be obtained by patient labor is 
constantly left for another, which rumor has enriched 
with more generous deposits. They who decry this 
instability in others, may hold out for a time, but 
yield at last to the same phrensied fickleness. I have 
never met with one who had the strength of purpose 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 293 

to resist these roving temptations. He will not swing 
a pick for an ounce a day, with the rumor of pounds 
ringing in his ears. He shoulders his implements to 
chase this phantom of hope. 

Thursday, Oct. 19. All the gold-diggers through 
the entire encampment, were shaken out of their 
slumbers this morning by a report that a solid pocket 
of gold had been discovered in a bend of the Stanis- 
laus. In half an hour a motley multitude, covered 
with crowbars, pickaxes, spades, rifles, and wash- 
bowls, went streaming over the hills in the direction 
of the new deposits. You would have thought some 
fortress w^as to be stormed, or some citadel sapped. 
I had seen too much of these rumored banks of gold 
to be moved from my propriety, and remained under 
my old camping-tree. Near this I pecked out from a 
small crevice of slate rock, a piece weighing about 
half an ounce. It had evidently travelled some dis- 
tance, and taken refuge from the propulsive storms of 
ages in this little hiding-place, as a good man from 
the persecutions of the world glides down at last to 
his sainted repose. But I have no compunction for 
having disturbed this piece of gold ; it may yet be 
shaped into an ear-drop, and kiss the envied cheek of 
beauty ; or it may be studded with diamonds, and 
swell on a billow that seems to blush at the flash of 
its ray ; or it may be shaped into the marriage-ring, 
and set its seal on the purest bliss that greets the 
visits of angels ; or it may be stamped into a coin, 

25* 



294 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

and as it drops into the hands of the widow or or- 
phan, prove that — 

" The secret pleasure of a generous act 
Is the great mind's great bribe." 

But evening is returning, and with it the gold-dig- 
gers from their pursuit of the new" deposit. Their 
jokes, as they clatter down the slopes of the ravine, 
are sufficient evidence that they have been on a wild- 
goose chase. Disappointment will make a single man 
sober, but when it falls on a multitude, is often con- 
verted into a source of railery and fun. There is 
something extremely consoling in having the com- 
pany of others, when we have been duped through 
our vanity or exaggerated hopes. This comfort was 
deeply felt by the diggers this evening. All had lost 
a day, and with it the most enchanting visions of 
wealth. All had returned hungry as a wolf on a 
desert ; or a recluse listening in his last penance to 
the sound of his cross-bones, shaken by the wind. 



295 



CHAPTER XXII. 

VISIT TO THE SONORANIAN CAMP. FESTIVITIES AND GAMBLING. THE DOC- 
TOR AND TEAMSTER. AN ALCALDE TURNED COOK. ^THE MINEr's TATTOO. 

THE LITTLE DUTCHMAN. NEW DEPOSITS DISCOVERED. A WOMAN 

KEEPING A MONTE TABLE. UP TO THE KNEE AND NINE-PENCE. THE 

VOLCANOES AND GOLD. ARRIVAL OF A BARREL OF RUM. 

Friday, Oct. 20. I threw myself into my sad- 
dle at an early hour this morning, and started for a 
Canada, about ten miles distant. The foot-trail which 
I followed, lay over several sharp ridges to the quick 
waves of the Stanislaus, and then up a steep moun- 
tain spur. I was obliged to dismount, draw myself 
up by the bushes, and trust to the fidelity of my 
horse to follow. At last we gained the summit, but 
it was only to gaze down a wild precipitous descent, 
where the cliffs hung in toppling terror. A vein of 
white quartz run along the ridge, like a line of un- 
melted snow, with here and there spangles of gold 
glittering in the sun. I had no implement with me 
but my hunting-knife, and vainly broke the point of 
that. I tried one of my pistols ; the bullet knocked 
out the gold-drop, but jewel and lead went over 
the steep verge together. I let myself down by the 
bushes, blessing every lythe limb and steadfast root, 
while my horse, more sagacious, fetched a circuit, and 
reached the plain before me. 



2Q6 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Ascending another ridge, the ravine, which had 
induced this adventure, lay in jagged wildness be- 
neath. It was in uproarious Hfe ; an elk had been 
shot ; and the miners were feasting on its fat ribs. 
The repast was hardly over, when the monte table, 
v/ith its piles of gold, glimmered in the shade. It 
was the great camp of the Sonoranians, and hundreds 
were crowding around to reach the bank, and de- 
posit their treasures on the turn of a card. They 
seemed to play for the excitement, and often doubled 
their stakes whether they won or lost. They ap- 
parently connect no moral obliquity with the game ; 
one of them, who sleeps near my camping-tree, will 
kneel by the half hour on the sharp rock in his Ave 
Marias, while the keen night- wind cuts his scarce 
clad frame, then rise and' stake his last dollar at monte. 
At the break of day he is on his knees again, and his 
prayer trembles up with the first trill of the waking 
birds. It was in this ravine that a few weeks since 
the largest lump of gold found in California was dis- 
covered. It weighs twenty-three pounds, is nearly 
pure, and cubic in its form. Its discovery shook the 
whole mines ; the shout of the eureka swelled on the 
wind like the cheer of seamen when the pharos breaks 
through a stormy night. I waved my adieu to the 
miners, and fetching a bold circuit to the east, reached 
at night-fall my camping-tree. 

Saturday, Oct. 21. Extravagant charges here are 
often made as offsets. A doctor of my acquaintance, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 297 

wishing to remove to another Canada a few miles off, 
tost his machine into an empty wagon, bound in that 
direction, and on arriving, asked the teamster what 
he was to pay ; the reply was a hundred dollars ! 
which was planked down without a word. Soon after 
this the teamster had a grip of the cholic, from which 
he sought relief in two or three of the doctor's pills. 
The relieved patient now asked what he was to pay ; 
the doctor, after a few moment's abstraction, in which 
he seemed to be rummaging his memory more than his 
medicines, replied, " The charge is exactly one hundred 
dollars!" "Ah," said the wagoner, "I knew that 
cradle would yet rock thunder at me." But he paid 
the fee, and squared the account. 

I have been out for several hours this morning 
scouring a conical hill crowned with quartz. I took 
with me the sailor, who knocked his cup of gold out 
of sight by an accidental glance of his pick. We 
searched the hill from top to bottom, shivered the 
quartz on its summit, and rummaged among the frag- 
ments of the same, which the storms of ages had 
swept to its base, but we found no gold. Following 
one of the slopes which terminated in a glen, over- 
hung with willows, and where a current had flowed, 
we struck into a confined basin, where we found, 
among the pebbles, a deposit of gold, and gathered, 
in the course of the day, about two ounces ; with 
beautiful trophies we returned to camp. 

Monday, Oct. 23. It was now near noon, and 



298 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

my day to cook the dinner ; so I hastened back to 
our camping-tree, and piHng up the half-extinguished 
brands, soon raised a fire. Then taking a tin pan, 
which serve*d alternately as a gold-washer and a 
bread-tray, I turned into it a few pounds of flour, a 
small solution ofsaleratus, and a few quarts of water, 
and then went to work in it with my hands, mixing 
it up and adding flour till I got it to the right con- 
sistency ; then shaping it into a loaf, raked open the 
embers, and rolled it in, covering it with the live 
coals. While this baking was going on, I placed in 
a stew-pan, after pounding it pretty well between two 
stones, a string of jerked-beef, with a small quantity 
of water, and lodged it on the fire. Then taking 
some coffee, which had been burnt the evening be- 
fore, I tied it in the end of a napkin, and hammering 
it to pieces between two stones, turned it into a 
coffee-pot filled with water, and placed that, too, on 
the fire. In half an hour or so my bread was baked, 
my jerk-beef stewed, and my coffee boiled. I settled 
the latter by turning on it a pint of cold water. The 
bread was well done ; a little burnt on one side, and 
somewhat puffed up, like the expectations of the gold- 
digger in the morning, or the vanity of a stump-ora- 
tor just after a cheer. My companions returned, and 
seating ourselves on the ground, each with a tin cup 
of coffee, a junk of bread, and a piece of the stewed 
jerky, our dinner was soon dispatched, and with a 
rehsh which the epicure never yet felt or fancied. 
The water here is slightly impregnated with iron and 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 299 

sulphur ; the one acting as a tonic, the other as an 
aperient. And then this fine mountain air, some 
eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, all con- 
duce to health and buoyancy of spirits. * Among the 
hundred gold-diggers around, not one hypochondriac 
throws on rock or rill the shadow of a long counte- 
nance. Even they who hardly get out gold enough to 
pay their way, laugh at their bad luck, and hope for 
better success to-morrow. They have yet plenty of 
tickets in the lottery, and some of them may turn out 
prizes. At any rate, they are not going to despond 
while these glens contain an undisturbed bar, or 
these hills lift their cones of white rock in the sun. 

Tuesday, Oct. 24. The ravine in which we are 
camped runs nearly north and south, and is walled 
by lofty ranges of precipitous rock. It is near ten 
o'clock of the day before the rays of the sun strike 
its depths ; but when they do reach you, it is with a 
power that drives you at once into the shade. It is 
twilight in the glen, while the cliffs above still blaze 
in the radiance of the descending orb. As darkness 
comes on, the camp-fires of the diggers, kindled along 
the ravine, throw their light into every recess, where 
forms are seen, gathered in groups, or glancing about, 
while every now and then some merry tale or apt 
joke explodes in a roar of laughter. At eight o'clock 
every tin pan and brass kettle is put in requisition, 
and the thumpers beat a tattoo, which is concluded 
with the Simultaneous discharge of several muskets. 



300 THREE YEAR3 IN CALIFORNIA. 

The jargon is enough to frighten the wolf out of his 
cavern ; and yet no harmony that ever rolled from 
theatrical orchestra or cathedral choir, can charm 
you half as much. It is the music of the heart reel- 
ing itself off through tin pans in melodious numbers. 
But the musicians are now all sound asleep ; their 
camp-fires wane, and there is only heard the dirge of 
the pines, murmuring in the night-wind. Thousands 
who lie on beds of down, under canopies of silk, might 
envy the sleepers on these rocks their quiet repose. 
The stars gaze on no groups where slumber shakes 
from its wings such a refreshing dew. 

Wednesday, Oct. 25. A little Dutchman came to me 
this morning, and informed me, in whispers, that he 
and his companion had, unbeknown to the rest, stolen 
off to a glen about three miles distant, where they 
had found a rich deposit, and then invited me to 
come and share it with them. He took my pan, 
which had served as a bread- tray, and we wound 
over the hills to his glen. Here we found his red- 
haired companion, knee-deep in mud, which he was 
shovelling out to reach the bed of clay beneath. On 
this bed lay the gold in grains about the size of wheat- 
kernels. Every now and then the water, which was 
as cold as ice, would gather in the hole, and required 
to be bailed out or drained off. The chill of the 
water was enough for me ; I had tried that once be- 
fore, and felt no disposition to repeat the experiment. 
The mud I could stand, for I was already dirty as a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 301 

pig just rolling out of his siesta. So I told my young 
friends to go to work, and I would poke about the 
edges. They urged me to jump in ; and truly the 
temptation was strong, and required some share of 
prudence to resist it, but I contented m3'self with work- 
ing where I could keep my feet dry. But they sev- 
eral times called for my pan, and filled it with earth, 
scraped from the clay bed, which I washed out, and 
then found at the bottom fifteen or twenty dollars in 
gold. They obtained, as the result of their joint la- 
bors through the day, about a thousand dollars. 
Night was advancing, and I returned over the hills 
to our camping-tree. 

Thursday, Oct. 26. Where is the little Dutchman 
and the red-haired Paddy ? ran in excited inquiry 
through the ravine this morning, for they had now 
been missed from the camp twenty-four hours, and 
no doubt existed on the minds of many that they had 
found a rich deposit somewhere, and were secretly 
working it out. I knew well where they were, but 
no one thought of questioning me on the subject, for 
I was looked upon as a sort of amateur gold-hunter, 
very much given to splitting rocks and digging in 
unproductive places ; and, indeed, this was not far 
from the truth, for my main object was information, 
and a specimen of wild mountain life. 

But to return to the little Dutchman. All knew 
him to be a shrewd gold-hunter, and determined to 
find him before he should exhaust his discovery. No 

26 



302 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

child lost in the woods ever awakened half the con- 
cern : some started in this direction, others in that, 
till all the cardinal points in the heaven, and all the 
glens between, had men travelling towards them. 
The most curious feature in this business is, that out 
of a regiment of gold-hunters, where the utmost ap- 
parent confusion prevails, the absence of two men 
should be noticed. But the motions of every man 
are watched. Even when he gathers up his traps, 
takes formal leave, and is professedly bound home, , 
he is tracked for leagues. No disguise can avail 
him ; the most successful war-stratagem would fail 
here. 

Friday, Oct. 27. I have just returned from an 
other ravine, five miles distant, where there are eighty 
or a hundred gold-diggers. They are mostly Sono- 
ranians, and, like all their countrymen, passionately 
devoted to gambling. They were playing at monte ; 
the keeper of the bank was a woman, and herself a 
Sonoranian. There was no coin on the table ; the 
bank consisted of a pile of gold, weighing, perhaps, a 
hundred pounds ; and each of the players laid down 
his ounce or pound, as his means or courage permit- 
ted. The woman, on the whole, appeared to be the 
winner, though one man, in the course of half an 
hour, took ten pounds from her yellow pile. But 
such a loss was felt only for the moment, and only 
had the effect to stimulate others to lose what little 
they had left. A Sonoranian digs out gold simply 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 303 

and solely that he may have the wherewithal for 
gambling. This is the rallying thought which wakes 
with him in the morning, which accoQipanies him 
through the day, and which floats through his dreams 
at night. For this he labors, and cheerfully denies 
himself every comfort. All this is the result of habit. 
A Mussulman looks upon gambling as a species of lar- 
ceny, — as a crime which deserves the bastinado. I 
saw a Turkish cadi at Smyrna sentence a man to 
thirty-nine lashes for having, as he termed it, swin- 
dled another out of fifty dollars at faro. Give me a 
Turk where there is a rogue to be caught or a crime 
punished. The flashings of the sword of justice fol- 
low the crime as light the shark in a phosphoric sea. 

Saturday, Oct. 28. A portion of the party that 
went in quest of the little Dutchman have found him, 
and helped him to dig out his new deposit — a sort of 
assistance for which he can feel no very profound 
obligation. It was much like that rendered by 
Prince Hal in the division of the spoils secured 
by the knight of sack at Gad's hill. A successful 
gold-hunter is like the leader of hounds in the chase 
— the whole pack comes sweeping after, and are sure 
to be in at the death. No doubling hill, or covert, or 
stream throws them upon a false scent. I advise all 
fox-hunters to come here and train their hounds, and 
throw away their horns. Even his Grace of Wel- 
lington, who is still so hotly keen in the chase, that 
the snows of eighty winters fall from his locks unper- 



X 



304 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ceived, might catch some valuable hints in the gold 
mines of California. 

Monday, Oct. 30. I encountered to-day, in a 
ravine some three miles distant, among the gold- 
washers, a woman from San Jose. She was at work 
with a large wooden bowl, by the side of a stream. 
I asked her how long she had been there, and how 
much gold she averaged a day. She replied, " Three 
weeks and an ounce." Her reply reminded me of 

an anecdote of the late Judge B , who met a girl 

returning from market, and asked her, " How deep did 
you find the stream ? what did you get for your but- 
ter ?" " Up to the knee and nine-pence," was the 
reply. Ah! said the judge to himself; she is the girl 
for me — no words lost there : turned back, proposed, 
was accepted, and married the next week ; and a 
more happy couple the conjugal bonds never united : 
the nuptial lamp never waned ; its ray was steady 
and clear to the last. Ye, who paddle off and on for 
seven years, and are at last perhaps capsized, take 
a lesson of the judge. That " up to the knee and 
nine-pence " is worth all the rose letters and melan- 
choly rhymes ever penned. But I am wandering ; 
I did intend to write this journal without an episode, 
but they will keep forcing themselves in, like the cu- 
riosity of the crowd in a family jar, or remembrances 
of wrong upon a guilty conscience. I know the in- 
terest of a journal depends much on the continuity of 
its thread ; but it is the easiest thing in the world to 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 305 

be continuously stupid, and that is my apology for 
these episodical breaks. If the reader don't like this 
reason, then let him look up a better ; while I plunge 
into that o'ershadowed glen, and see if it contains 
any gold. 

Tuesday, Oct. 31. I have collected, since my 
arrival in the mines, several singular and beautiful 
specimens of the gold. One of the pieces resembles 
a pendulous ear-drop, and must have assumed that 
shape when the metal was in a state of fusion. That 
all the gold here has once been in that state is suffi- 
ciently evident from the forms in which it is found. 
I have a specimen, weighing several ounces, in which 
the characteristics of the slate rock are as palpable 
as if they had been engraved. I have another speci- 
men, in which a clear crystal of quartz is set, with a 
finish of execution which no jeweller can rival. I 
have another specimen still, where the gold gleams 
up, in the shape of buck-shot, from a basis of sand- 
stone ; and another still, where it has taken the form 
of a paper-folder, and may be used to cut the leaves 
of a book, which have escaped the knife of the binder. 
A most interesting cabinet of curiosities might be ga- 
thered from the variety of combinations and forms 
which the gold in these mines has assumed. Nature 
never indulged in fancies more elegant and whimsi- 
cal. If these are the works of the volcano, then jew- 
ellers, instead of looking to the laboratories of Paris, 
or Amsterdam, for models, should come and seat 
26* 



306 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

themselves by the side of these craters. Here are 
laboratories, which no human power has constructed, 
and models, which no human skill can rival. 

Wednesday, Nov. 1. There are several persons 
among the gold-diggers here who rarely use any 
implement but their wooden bowls. Into these they 
scrape the dirt left by others, which they stir and 
whirl till the gold gradually works its way to the bot- 
tom. The earth, as these heavier particles descend, 
is thrown off by the hands, and the gold remains. 
This process is what they call dry washing : it is re- 
sorted to where there is no water in the vicinity, and 
will answer pretty well where the gold is found in 
coarse grains ; but the finer particles, of course, es- 
cape. The Sonoranians obviate this difficulty to 
some extent by calling their lungs into requisition. 
They rub the earth into their bowls, through their 
hands, detaching and throwing away all the pebbles, 
and then blow off the sand and dust, leaving the gold 
at the bottom. But on some of the streams, particu- 
larly the Yuba, the gold is too fine even for this pro- 
cess. It is amusing to see a group of Sonoranians, 
seated around a deposit, blowing the earth out of 
their bowls. But for the dust they raise, you would 
think they were cooling hasty-pudding. Their 
cheeks swell out, like the chops of a squirrel, car- 
rying half the beech-nuts on a tree to his hole. A 
more provident fellow he than his two-legged supe- 
rior ! He lays in his stores against the inclemency of 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 307 

winter ; while the Sonoranian squanders his at the 
gambling-table. There is more practical wisdom in 
an ant-hill than is often found in a city. But I am 
digressing again — a propensity which I shall never 
get over. 

Thursday, Nov. 2. Quite a sensation was pro- 
duced among the gold-diggers this morning by the 
arrival of a wagon from Stockton, freighted with 
provisions and a barrel of liquor. The former had 
been getting scarce, and the latter had long since en- 
tirely given out. The prices of the first importation 
were — flour, two dollars a pound ; sugar and coffee, 
four dollars ; and the liquor, which was nothing more 
nor less than New England rum, was twenty dollars 
the quart. But few had bottles : every species of re- 
tainer was resorted to ; some took their quart cups, 
some their coffee-pots, and others their sauce-pans ; 
while one fellow, who had neither, offered ten dollars 
to let him suck with a straw from the bung. All 
were soon in every variety of excitement, from prat- 
tling exhilaration, to roaring inebriety. Some shouted, 
some danced, and some wrestled : a son of Erin 
poured out his soul on the beauties of the Emerald 
isle ; a German sung the songs of his father-land ; a 
Yankee apostrophized the mines, which swelled in 
the hills around ; an Englishman challenged all the 
bears in the mountain glens to mortal combat ; and a 
Spaniard, posted aloft on a beetling crag, addressed 
the universe. The multitudinous voices which rang 



308 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

from every chasm and cove of the ravine, rivalled 
the roar that went up around the tower of Babel. 
But night has come ; the camp-fires burn dim ; and 
the revellers are at. rest, save here and there one who 
strides about in his delirium, commanding silence 
among the wolves who bark from the hills. What 
exciting, elevating, and expanding powers there are 
in a barrel of New England rum ! It makes one to- 
day monarch of peopled realms, and their riches ; but 
leaves him to-morrow in rags, and with only ground 
enough in which to sink his pauper grave. 

** Thou sparkling bowl 1 thou sparkling bowl ! 

Though lips of bards tliy brim may press, 
And eyes of beauty o'er thee roll, 

And song and dance thy power confess — 

I will not touch thee ; for there clings 

A scorpion to thy side that stings." 

Pier PONT. 



309 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

NATURAL AMPHITHEATRE. — NO SCIENTIFIC CLUE TO THE DEPOSITS OF GOLD, — 

SOIL OF THE MINES. LIFE AMONG THE GOLD-DIGGERS. LOSS OF OUR 

CABALLADA. THE OLD MAN AND ROCK. DEPARTURE FROM THE MINES. 

TRAVELLING AMONG GORGES AND PINNACLES. INSTINCTS OF THE MULE.— 

A MOUNTAIN CABIN. 

Friday, Nov. 3. At the head of the ravine, where 
our camping-trees wave, stands an amphitheatre 
reared by nature, and unrivalled in the grandeur of 
its proportions, and the stateliness and strength of 
its architecture. It unrolls its wild magnificence on 
the eye Avith a more majestic power than even 
Rome's great wonder. From its ample arena, circling 
ranges of crags soar one over the other to the lofty 
sweep of the architrave, where sentinel-trees toss their 
branches against the sky. Had nature reared this 
theatre on the banks of the Tiber, the beauty and 
bravery of Rome would have flashed over the arena's 
gladiatorial tumult. But it was here in California, 
where even the Roman eagle, in its earth-embracing 
circuit, flew not. 

A new deposit was discovered this morning near 
the falls of the Stanislaus, and in the crevices of the 
rocks over which the river pours its foaming sheet. 
An Irishman had gone there to bathe, and in throw- 
ing off" his clothes, had dropped his jack-knife, which 



310 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

slipped into a crevice, where he first discovered the 
gold. He was soon tracked, and in less than an hour 
a storm of picks and crowbars were shivering the 
rocks. The accessible pockets were readily exhaust- 
ed, but beyond these only the drill and blast of the 
practical miner can extend. And this is true of all 
the rock-gold in California; the present harvest glows 
near the surface ; but there are under-crops, which 
the sunlight has never visited. Deep mining here, as 
elsewhere, will be attended with uncertain results ; 
but a fount so capacious on its rim, must have its re- 
plenishing depths. The largest fish are taken with 
the longest line. 

Saturday, Nov. 4. The deposits here baffle all 
the pretensions of science. The volcanoes did their 
work by no uniform geological law ; they burst out 
at random, and scattered their gold in wanton ca- 
price. Were not those old Vulcans dead, they would 
laugh at the blundering vanity exhibited around them. 
The old landmarks are the quartz ; these are general 
indications, but too vague when applied to alluvial 
deposits, and frequently serve only to bewilder and 
betray. We have a young geologist here who can 
unroll the whole earth, layer by layer, from surface 
to centre, and tell the properties of each, and how 
it came to be deposited there, who unsuspectingly 
walked over a bank of gold, which a poor Indian 
afterwards stirred out with a stick. I have seen this 
savan camp down and snore soundly through the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 311 

night, with a half-pound piece of gold within a few 
inches of his nose : and then rise at peep of day to 
push his learned theory into some ledge of rocks, 
where not a particle of the yellow ore ever existed. 
I have seen a digger take from a bank of decomposed 
granite, in a space not larger than a man's hat, between 
three and four pounds of gold, while his only clue to 
it was a blast on the opposite side of the glen, through 
which he believed the deil had blown the gold into 
the bank, where he was at work. What a burlesque 
on all geological laws as applied to gold deposits ! 
There is only one of these laws, in reference to allu- 
vial deposits, worth a pin, and that is the simple fact 
that a heavy body will tumble down hill faster than 
a lighter one, or that a nut shaken from a tree will 
drop through the fog to the ground. 

Sunday, Nov. 5. I rose this morning with the in- 
tention of proposing to the diggers a religious service. 
But mid- day came, and only here and there one 
broke from slumbers doubly deep from the overpower- 
ing fatigues of the week In a shaded recess of the hills 
three of us found a little sanctuary : neither of the two 
with me was a professor of religion, but each retained 
in vivid remembrance the religious instructions of his 
childhood and youth. Time and distance had not 
effaced these impressions ; each lettered trace re- 
mained as legible as the footprints of the primeval 
bird in the fossil rock. Such is the inscription of pa- 
rental fidelity on the heart of a child : the wave may 



312 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

wear away the mound which it laves, and the marble 
dissolve under the touch of time, but that inscription 
remains. 

Monday, Nov. 6. Vein-gold in these rocks is as 
uncertain and capricious as lightning; it straggles 
w4iere you least expect it, and leaves only a stain 
where its quick volume seemed directed. It threads 
its way in a rock without crevice or crack, and where 
its continuity becomes at times too subtle for the naked 
eye, and then suddenly bulges out like a lank snake 
that has swallowed a terrapin. The great Hebrew 
proverbialist says there are three things about which 
there is no certainty, — the way of an eagle in the air, 
the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship 
in the midst of the sea ; and he might have added — 
the way of a thread of gold in a vein of California 
quartz ; but probably California, with its treasures, 
had not then been discovered, though some of our 
wiseacres are trying to make out that this el dorado 
was the Ophir of the Old Testament : if so, the men 
of Joppa must have been pretty good seamen, espe- 
cially as they had no compass. It may be, but I 
somewhat doubt it, that the Hottentots or Patago- 
nians are the descendants of some shipwrecked men 
bound in a wherry from Tarsus to California. The 
adventurers, even in that case, would have been quite 
as sober in their calculations as some who put to sea 
on a gold-hunt in these days. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 313 

Tuesday, Nov. 7. The price of provisions nere is 
no criterion of their market value on the seaboard, 
or even at the embarcadaros nearest the mines. The 
cost of a hundred pounds of flour at Stockton, only 
sixty miles distant, is twenty dollars ; but here it is 
two hundred dollars. This vast disparity is owing to 
the difficulty of transportation and the absence of 
competition. But few can be persuaded to leave the 
expectations of the pick for the certainties of the 
pack — the promises of the cradle for the fulfilments 
of the freighted w^agon. All live on drafts upon 
the future, and though disappointed a hundred times, 
still believe the results of to-morrow will more 
than redeem the broken pledges of to-day. Though 
all else may end in failure, hope is not bankrupt 
here. 

The soil in the mines is evidently volcanic ; it re- 
sembles in places the ashes which cover Pompeii. 
You can walk through it when dry, though every 
footstep stirs a little cloud ; but when saturated with 
the winter rain you slump to the middle. No horse 
can force his way forward ; every struggle but sinks 
him the deeper, and the miner himself retires to his 
cabin, as thoroughly cut off from the peopled districts 
of the coast, as a sailor wrecked on some rock at 
sea. Years must elapse before human enterprise can 
bridge a path to these mines, or render communica- 
tion practicable in the rainy season ; nor at any pe- 
riod can heavy machinery be transported here with- 
out an immense outlay of capital. The quartz rock 

27 



314 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

has yet some time to roll back the sunlight before it 
crumbles under the steam-stamper. 

Wednesday, Nov. 8. Some fifty thousand persons 
are drifting up and down these slopes of the great 
Sierra, of every hue, language, and clime, tumultuous 
and confused as a flock of wild geese taking wing at 
the crack of a gun, or autumnal leaves strown on the 
atmospheric tides by the breath of the whirlwind. 
All are in quest of gold ; and, with eyes dilated to the 
circle of the moon, rush this way and that, as some 
new discovery, or fictitious tale of success may sug- 
gest. Some are with tents, and some without ; some 
have provisions, and some are on their last ration ; 
some are carrying crowbars ; some pickaxes and 
spades ; some wash-bowls and cradles ; some ham- 
mers and drills, and powder enough to blow up the 
rock of Gibraltar — if they can but get under it, as 
the monkeys do, when they make their transit, through 
a sort of Thames tunnel, from the golden but barren 
sands of Africa to the green hills of Europe. Wise 
fellows they, notwithstanding the length of their tails 
— they won't stay on the Congo side of the strait, to 
gather gold, when, by crossing, they can gather 
grapes. Wisdom is justified of her children. 

But I was speaking of the gold-hunters here on the 
slopes of the Sierra. Such a mixed and motley 
crowd — such a restless, roving, rummaging, ragged 
multitude, never before roared in the rookeries of 
man. As for mutual aid and sympathy — Samson's 



THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA. 315 

foxes had as much of it, turned tail to, with firebrands 
tied between. Each great camping-ground is de- 
noted by the ruins of shovels and shanties, the bleach- 
ing bones of the dead, disinhumed by the wolf, and 
the skeleton of tlie culprit, still swinging in the wind, 
from the limb of a tree, overshadowed by the raven. 
From the deep glen, the caverned cliff, the plaintive 
rivulet, the croaking raven, and the wind-toned skel- 
eton come voices of reproachful interrogation — 

" Slave of the dark and dirtj mine ! 
What vanity has brought thee here ?" 

Thursday, Nov. 9. Our baccaro came in this 
morning, and startled us with the intelligence that 
last night, while he was on the watch — sound asleep, 
of course — the wild Indians came, and stole all our 
horses and mules, save one, little Nina, whom he had 
tethered close to his post. Rather an awkward pre- 
dicament for us, in the California mountains, three 
hundred miles from home, and our horses and mules 
in the hands of wild Indians, driving them off into 
some unknown fastness, to be killed for food ! But I 
was on the trail of a small piece of gold, and followed 
it up with that sort of listless equanimity with which 
a man will sometimes pick up a curious shell on the 
rocks where his vessel floats in fragments. If you 
would acquire those habits which no disaster can dis- 
turb, come to California. One year here will do 
more for your philosophy than a life elsewhere. I 



316 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

have seen a man sit, and quietly smoke his cigar, 
while his dwelling went heavenward in a column of 
flame. It seemed as if it were enough for him that 
his wife and children were safe, and that the green 
earth, with its bright-eyed flowers and laughing rills, 
remained ; so let the old tenement pass off* in smoke 
to pall some mountain peak, or throw its dusky shad- 
ow where — 
• 

" The owlet builds his ivy tower." 

Friday, Nov. 10. The Sonoranian, who has been 
one of the most successful diggers in the ravine, be- 
sieged me to-day to sell him my pistols. They are 
an elegant pair, silver mounted and rifle bore, and 
good for duck or duelist — no matter which — for 
twenty or thirty paces. He offered me a pound of 
gold ; so I determined to try the non-resistant prin- 
ciple, and let him have them. As he belted them 
about his waist, and strode off", you would have ad- 
vised even a California bear to get out of his way. 
How well prepared for a last extremity is a man with 
a new weapon at his side, or a new patent pill in his 
pocket ! The only difference is, that with the former 
he may chance to kill some one else, and with the 
latter he is pretty sure to kill himself. But I prom- 
ised to make no» more remarks ; my apology must 
be the loss of our horses, the probable necessity 
of being obliged to pick our way home on foot, and 
the refuge which even an irrelevant thought affords 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 317 

from such a dismal prospect. Men have betrayed 
flashes of humor on the block — an evanescent ray on 
the vergg g^ endless night,! ; Then why should not 
my poor pill have place in the pedestrian prospect of 
three hundred miles, and that, too, through a region 
marked only by the footprints which Unger dimly in 
the trail of the wild Indian ? 

Saturday, Nov. 11. I encountered .an old man 
to-day, sitting listlessly on a rock under the broken 
shade of a decayed oak. A few. gray hairs strayed 
from under his camping-cap, and his face was deeply 
wrinkled ; but his eye flashed, at intervals, with the 
fires of an unquenched spirit. He had not, as he told 
me, obtained an ounce of gold in this ravine, and was 
about trying some other locality. I advised him to 
roll over the rock on which he was sitting; he said 
he would do it to please me ; but as for gold, he 
might as well look for a weasel in a watchman's rat- 
tle. The rock was easily rolled from its inclined po- 
sition ; beneath it was found a layer of moss, and 
beneath this, in the crevices of another rock, a depos- 
it of gold, in the shape of pumpkin-seeds, bright as if 
fresh from the mint, and weighing over half a pound. 
The eyes of the old man sparkled ; but he was think- 
ing of his home and those left behind. 

Sunday, Nov. 12. Could the parents of the youth 
in these glens cast a glance at their children, what a 
tide of affection and concern would rush through 

27* 



318 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

their hearts ! No treasured ship at sea was ever en- 
vironed by deeper perils ; storms lower in thick dark- 
ness above, and breakers thunder below, and no 
pharos throws its friendly ray from the shrouded cliff. 
The only light they have to guide them is in their 
own tempest-tost bark, and the lamp in the binnacle 
is dim. The merchant who should send his ship to sea 
without compass or rudder, would not be more frantic 
and foolish than the parent who sends his son out upon 
the world without any religion in his soul. These 
youths in these glens are to shape the destinies of 
California ; under their hands her political, social, 
and moral institutions are to be reared. Unless reli- 
gion lie at the foundations, these structures, though 
columned with gold, will fall. It was frailty and rot- 
tenness at the base that has left all the proud fabrics 
of the Old World a storied mass of ruins. 

Monday, Nov. 13. A mounted company of gold- 
diggers arrived on our camping premises last even- 
ing, and we struck in for four horses, which we pur- 
chased at their own prices. Mine is an Indian pony 
from Oregon, full of heart and hardihood ; but as for 
ease of motion, you might as well ride a trip-hammer. 
But an extremity makes the most indifferent gift of 
nature a blessed boon. 

We reduced our effects to the fewest articles possi- 
ble, and packing these, with provisions for three or four 
days, upon little Nina, were ready for a start. Two 
Oregonian trappers joined us, and before the sun's rays 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 319 

struck the depths of the ravine, we were off, wdth 
three hearty cheers from the diggers. An hour 
brought us to the summit of an elevation, beneath 
which lay, in panoramic life, the ravines, rivulets, 
rambling paths, and roving groups of the gold-hunters. 
I have walked on the roaring verge of Niagara, 
through the grumbling parks of London, on the laugh- 
ing boulevards of Paris, among the majestic ruins of 
Rome, in the torch-lit galleries of Herculaneum, 
around the flaming crater of Vesuvius, through the 
wave-reflected palaces of Venice, among the monu- 
mental remains of Athens, and beneath the barbaric 
splendors of Constantinople : but none of these, nor 
all combined, have left in my memory a page graven 
with more significant and indellible characters than 
the gold diggins of California. 

Our route lay for several miles through a succes- 
sion of narrow ravines, above which soared the stu- 
pendous steeps of a mountain range, through which 
some convulsion of nature had sunk these shadowy 
chasms. Here and there some giant bluff had plunged 
into the winding abyss, as if to shut out the profane 
intruder from its silent sanctuaries. These granite 
gates became at last so frequent, that we determined 
to try the ridge, the table-rock, or less precipitous 
slope. We wound up the steep sides of the pass one 
by one, as a weary bird at sea scales the tempest- 
cloud ; and at last emerged upon a lofty range of 
trap, feathered by the fir and low pine, and where the 
eade had made himself a home. A wide sea of 



320 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

chasms and cones lay around us. These were evi- 
dently the bleak monuments of volcanoes, which ages 
since had rested from their labors. The sun threw 
its level rays along their summits, while the abysses 
lay in perpetual shadow. No path threw its trail on 
the eye. Rounding a pinnacle, which stood as a for- 
tress at the abrupt termination of one of the ranges, 
we discovered a slope which slanted off less steeply 
than the rest. Here, dismounting, we let ourselves 
down for several hundred yards by the bushes ; Ni- 
na, sure of foot as a fox, followed first ; my Indian 
pony next ; and then the rest, as the docility or cour- 
age of each induced. All our horses had been trained 
by mountaineers, and well knew, if left behind, what 
must be their fate. What a strange affection for 
such an animal springs up at such an hour as this ! As 
he comes down to join you, selecting you out as his 
rider, snuffing about you, and inviting you to mount 
again, you involuntarily throw your arms about his 
neck, and try to make him understand the kindness 
you feel for him. 

We discovered in the last flashes of twilight a gush 
of waters from the rocks, which beetled over a Canada, 
where the grass was fresh from the showering spray. 
We had struck this spot through no sagacity of our 
own ; Nina, snuffing the water long before it flashed 
upon us, had turned into the ravine, and dashed ahead 
upon the gallop. Here we camped for the night. 
The dried willows supplied us with fuel, the cascade 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 321 

with water, and our panniers with a piece of pork, and 
a few pounds of flour, which the kneading-tray and 
embers soon converted into bread. The stones were 
made to grind our coffee, and we were soon seated 
to a supper from which the epicure might perhaps 
turn away, but which these rough mountains made 
a luxury. And then the repose, though on the earth 
with your saddle for a pillow, yet how refreshing and 
profound ! Nor bark of wolf, nor murmur of cas- 
cade, nor rustle of the bear disturbed my dreams that 
night. 

Tuesday, Nov. 14. We were up, had taken our 
coffee, and were ready for a start, while as yet only 
the whispering trees on the higher cliflfs had been 
greeted by the sun. Our course, which was determined 
by a pocket-compass, now lay among mountain spurs, 
till we reached the rollers, which ridge the plain of 
the San Joaquin. In a copse of birch, which shadows 
one of these, we discovered a spring, where we lunched 
and rested for an hour, while our animals refreshed 
themselves on the grass, still green on the marge of 
the fount. We were now off* for a hard ride of several 
hours. My little Indian hammered into it with a res- 
olution that paid but little heed to the discomfort of 
his rider. Our object was to reach before nightfall 
the cabin of an old friend, who had nested himself 
out here among these wild mountain crags. We 
dashed around this steep, and over that, like hunters 
in the chase ; while Nina, without rein or rider, led 



322 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the way. We had no trail to guide us, — only the in- 
stinct of our animals, and that sagacity which a 
mountain life converts into a sort of prophetic knowl- 
edge. The day was dying fast, and no gleam of the 
cabin cheered the eye. The night would render all 
search hopeless. At last we struck the stream on 
which we knew the cabin stood, but whether up or 
down its current, we could not decide ; but Nina, 
after pausing a moment, led quick and resolutely up 
the stream, and we struck in after. The step of a 
weasel may turn the balanced rock. 

Three miles of fast riding brought us to a grove of 
oak, now wrapped in the purple twilight. Along 
this we streamed till reaching a bold bend, which 
circled up into its shadows, when the fagot flame of 
the cottage struck the eye. Our horses bounded for- 
ward on the gallop, knowing as well as we that the 
weary day was now over. Here we found my friend, 
Dr. Isabell and his good lady, who gave us a hearty 
v/elcome. True, their cabin had but one room in it ; 
but what of that ? — hearts make a home in the wilder- 
ness. Our first care was for our animals, which were 
soon watered and turned into a rich meadow, with a 
faithful Indian to watch them through the night. 
Our busy hostess soon announced supper — beefsteak, 
omelet, hot rolls, and coffee, with sugar and cream ! If 
you want to know how that supper relished, come 
and live a month in the mines of California. We 
run over our adventures since leaving Monterey, and 
they chimed in well with those of our host in his 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 323 

wild-wood home. Kindred and friends far away 
came sweeping down on the stream of memory, and 
gathered hfe-like and warm at our sides. We Hved 
over again all our school-days, our rustic sports, our 
husking-bees, our youthful loves, and those stolen 
kisses, which the sterner rules of refinement have in- 
terdicted only to give place to Polkas, in which 
modesty is too much bewildered to blush. Our hos- 
pitable friends welcomed us to all the sleeping com- 
forts which their cabin afforded ; but we camped 
under the trees, and were soon afloat in the realm of 
dreams, amid its visioned forms. 

" Alas ! that dreams are only dreams ! 
That fancy cannot give 
A lasting beauty to those forms, 
■Which scarce a moment live." 



3'24 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A LADT IX THE MOXTNTAlXS. — TO^TS OF STOCKTOX.^-CROSSrSG THE VALLEY 

OF THE SAX JOAQUTX. THE EOBBED FATHER AXD BOY. EIDE TO SAX 

J06K. — RCTC IX CAIJFORXIA. HIGHWATXEX. 'WTOODLAXD LIFE. RACHET 

AS THE \rELL. FARE^TELL TO STT CAitPIXG-TREE. 

Wedxesday, Xov. 15. Another day had da\\Tied 
fresh and brilKant : we breakfasted with our friends, 
who ordered up their horses, and started with us for 
Stockton, twelve miles distant. Our lady hostess and 
myself led off: she had crossed the Rocky Mountains 
on horseback into California, and was, of course, at 
home in the saddle. She was mounted on a spirited 
animal, and my Uttle Indian almost blew the wind 
out of him to keep up. My companion, though ac- 
complished in all the refinements of metropolitan life, 
was yet in love with the wild scenes in which her lot 
had been cast. The rose of health blushed in her 
cheek, and the light of a salient soul revelled in her 
eye. " I would not exchange,'* she said, " my cabin 
for any palace in Christendom. I have all that I 
want here, and what more could I have elsewhere ? 
I have tried luxury without health, and a wild moun- 
tain Hfe with it. Give me the latter, with the free 
air, the dashing streams, the swinging woods, the 
laughing flowers, and the exulting birds ; and 

" Let >iiTn vho crawls enamored of decay, 
Cling to his couch, and dcken vears away.* " 



THEEE YEAKS ly CALIPOtXIA. 325 

We were now at Stockton, the nucleus of a town 
at the head waters of a narrow arm of the San Joa- 
quin. The site is well chosen ; its central position 
to the gold mines, the broad fertile plain which 
spreads around it, and the water communication 
which connects it with the commerce of the Sacra- 
mento and San Francisco, will lift it into a town of 
the first importance. Charles Weber, a gentleman 
much esteemed for his hberaUty and enterprise, is the 
owner of the land now occupied by the town, and 
many leagues adjacent. He has given spacious lots 
to all who would erect buildings. His policy is 
marked with wisdom ; he will find his advantage in 
the results. His ample store is well filled with pro- 
visions, groceries, and ready-made clothing. The 
amount of business is immense, and the profits would 
phrensy our Philadelphia merchants. 

We found Stockton without a hotel, the private 
houses unfinished : and. caring but htUe for either, 
camped under the trees. We took supper with Mr. 
Weber, and, at a late hour, wound ourselves in our 
blankets for repose. The dew fell heavy, but we 
slept through it without the least harm. A hydropa- 
thist might have exchanged his sheet for a twist in 
one of our wet blankets. But we had no rheumatic 
joints to be relaxed, and no bone-burrowed mercu- 
ry to be douched. What an envied lot, that of the 
pearl-diver ! He gets not only his bath, but a pearl 
besides. And what a happy fellow is a fish ! He is 
always Bead and tail in the hydropathic process. I 
28 



326 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

wonder if it is not this that gives the shark such an 
appetite, and lends wings to the flying-fish. Even the 
bullfrog comes up only to twang his joy, and the whale 
to blow off" his excess of pleasure, while the mermaid, 
lost in transport, sings in her coral hall till the listen- 
ing naiads feel 

" Their souls dissolve in her melodious breath." 

Thursday, Nov. 16. Replenishing our panniers 
with hard bread, and a few pounds of dried venison 
and coffee, we bade adieu to our Oregonian friends 
and the hospitable proprietor of Stockton, and were off 
for our distant home. Our trail for sixteen miles lay 
through an arid plain, when we brought up on the 
bold bank of the San Joaquin. Our saddles, bridles, 
packs, and persons were thrown into a boat, our 
horses driven into the stream, and over we dashed to 
the opposite bank, where we paid two dollars each 
for our ferriage, and mounted for a fresh start. It 
was near sunset when we reached the line of trees 
which belt, with their thick umbrage, the great valley 
which stretches in barrenness beyond. Here we 
camped for the night, and soon found, to our pleasur- 
able surprise, our friends Lieut. B'onnycastle and 
Lieut. Morehead, of the army, in a camp not more 
than an arrow's flight distant. They were on their 
way to the mines, and if excellent qualities of head 
and heart can secure success, must return with for- 
tunes. Night deepened apace, and our simple repast 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 327 

finished, we wrapped ourselves in our blankets, and 
were soon in sound sleep. 

Friday, Nov. 17. The day glimmered over the 
hill-tops : a cup of coffee, a cake of hard bread, and 
a scrap of dried venison, and we were under way 
again. Our trail lay for fifteen miles over the prairie 
of the San Joaquin. Though now in November, yet 
the heat was oppressive. We encountered groups of 
disbanded volunteers, on their way to the mines. 
The soldiers' improvidence had left but very few the 
means of procuring horses, and they were generally 
on foot, and crippled with blisters. Going to the 
mines is one thing ; returning from them is another 
A dream of victory animates the soldier, and visions 
of gold stimulate the digger. It is only the result 
under which the heart droops and the muscles give 
way. 

It was mid-day when we struck the hills which roll 
their low forests to the verge of the prairie. In a 
glen, where sparkled a spring and the pine threw its 
shadows, we encountered an elderly man and his lit- 
tle boy. The parent was silent, downcast, and ab- 
stracted, and his boy was evidently trying to cheer 
him. The father, in reply to our inquiries, informed 
us that they had been in the mines, where, by great 
industry and good fortune, they had got out twen- 
ty pounds of gold ; that on their return they had 
camped for the night near Stockton ; that leaving 
their camping- tree for a few hours to renew their 



328 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

stock of" provisions, they had buried their bag of gold 
under the tree ; but on their return their gold could 
not be found ! that the most diligent search had led 
to no results ; that he had been robbed ! that the loss 
was less for him, but that he had eight motherless 
children, dependent on him for a support. Who could 
listen to such a tale as this and not feel his blood tin- 
gle at the callous wretch who could thus ruin an- 
other? Even the forgiving Uncle Toby would de- 
liver him over to the avenging angel, to be driven 
down under double-bolted thunder : nothing could 
rescue him, unless the Universalists catch him in 
their creed, which saves a man in spite of the Evil 
One, and in spite of himself, too. 

We invited the father and son to join our com- 
pany ; and when on the way, the little boy, who wos 
mounted on a pony at my side, told me a subscription 
had been started at Stockton for his father, and that 
Mr. Weber and Dr. Isabell had subscribed a pound of 
gold each. Blessings on those liberal men ! such a 
charity will throw a circle of light around misfortune, 
should it ever be their lot. The sun was far down 
his western dip when we reached the hospitable 
hearth of our friend Mr. Livermore ; but finding that 
he had no grain for our horses, and that the grass 
around had utterly perished under the summer's 
drought, we determined to push on ; and, crossing a 
plain of eight miles, reached the mountain rollers, 
where we struck into a ravine, through which a 
streamlet murmured, and where a plot of grass still 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 3*29 

preserved some portion of its freshness. Here we 
tethered and camped. The brief twilight that re- 
mained had passed into night's bosom before we had 
gathered sufficient wood for our camp-fire : and w^e 
needed a large pile ; for the air was chill and pene- 
trating. We made our supper on hard bread, dried 
venison, and coffee ; while clouds, the sure precursors 
of the v/inter rains, drifted above in sluggish masses. 
Our camp-fire threw its column of weaving flame on 
the, beetling crags ; not a sound from cavern or cliff 
disturbed the silence ; we gazed into the fire, lost in 
pensive musing ; and a more melancholy group sel- 
dom gathers over that face — 

" Where life's last parting pulse has ceased to play," 

when an owl perched near, gave a deep hoot ! Each 
broke into an involuntary laugh. The philosophy of 
that transition I leave to those whose metaphysical 
acumen can split the shadow which falls between 
melancholy and mirth. 

Saturday, Nov. 18. Another morn full of rosy 
charms comes blushing over the hills ; at the glance 
of her eye the shadows flee away, and the birds 
avvaken into song. The stir of preparation rustles 
the leaves under our camping-tree, and while the dew 
yet gems the grass, w^e are up and away. What sal- 
ient freshness and force are in the heart which takes 
its pulses from the waving wild-wood and the dashing 
stream! The exhilaration in its fullest tide never 
28* 



330 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ebbs ; it bears you on with sympathies and enjoy- 
ments still expanding, till all nature, with her intense 
life and rapture, is yours. 

Our path, which lay through a mountain gorge, 
bent its line to a winding rivulet, laughing and sing- 
ing through the solitude. Little cared that for mar- 
ble fount or sculptured dolphin ; it was happy in its 
own free life, and the kisses of the enamored pebbles, 
which danced in its limpid wave. And now the 
w^hite walls of the old church, where the mission of 
San Jose reared its altars, glimmered into vision. 
Fast and far the separating interval was left behind, 
when we dashed up to its welcome portal. Here we 
found an Irish restaurant, and set its culinary func- 
tions in motion — 

" Nothing's more sure at moments to take hold 
Of the best feelings of mankind, which grow 
More tender, as we every day behold, 

Than that all-softening, overpowering knell, 
The tocsin of the soul — the dinner-bell !" 

Sunday, Nov. 19. My companions pushed on 
last evening to San Jose — fifteen miles distant. My 
old Russian friend, who occupies one of the mission 
buildings, invited me to spend the Sabbath with him ; 
an invitation which I gladly accepted, as it afforded 
a refuge from the restaurant, with the roar of its rev- 
elry and rum. The United States have sent out 
enough of this fire here to burn up a continent. The 
conflagration, kindled by the battle-brand or bolt of 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 331 

the electric cloud, may sweep a forest, or lay a city 
in ashes ; but from the smouldering ruins new struc- 
tures will rise, and a new generation of plants spring; 
but where the spirit of rum hath spread its flame a 
desolation follows, which the skill of man and the re- 
viving dews of heaven can never reach. It is bar- 
ren and verdureless as the sulphurous marl which 
paves- 

" The deep track of hell" 

Monday, Nov. 20. For a moment this morning I 
regretted having parted with my pistols, and thrown 
myself on the non-resistant principle. I was alone, 
and on my way to San Jose, when two horsemen sud- 
denly broke from the covert of the woods on my left, 
and swept down upon the line of my path. They were 
well mounted, and had the dare-devil air of the bri- 
gand. It was near this spot, too, that a young friend 
of mine had been recently murdered. To attempt 
flight on my Indian pony from the lightning hoof of 
my pursuers, would have given to consternation itself 
a hue of the ludicrous. I determined to die decently, 
if die I must. My supposed assailants dashed close 
to my side, and then, without uttering a word, spurred 
back to the forest, from which they had debouched. 
They were foreigners, disguised as Californians ; for 
a native always salutes you, and would, were his hand 
on the trigger of his pistol. They went as they 
came, and the secret of their impetuous visit is in 
their own keeping. I was quite willing to part with 



332 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

their company, and ascribe their intrusion to a violent 
curiosity, or any other motive untouched by crime, 
so that they would let me pass in peace to the 
Pueblo of San Jose. 

Tuesday, Nov. 21. Arriving at the Pueblo, I 
found my companions had hired four horses, accus- 
tomed to the harness, attached them to the wagon, 
which we had left here, on our way to the mines, and 
were ready to start for Monterey. 1 threw my sad- 
dle, bridle, and blanket into the wagon, and parted 
with my Indian pony : he had done me good service, 
and got me out of a bad fix in the mines ; he had 
pounded me some, it is true ; but that was no fault of 
his ; nature never intended him to tread on flowers 
without bending their stems. May his new owner 
treat him kindly; and when age has withered his 
strength, not turn him out on a public common to 
die ! Had we as little mercy shown us as we extend 
to the noblest animal committed to our care, we 
should never get to heaven. 

The sun was far down his western slope when we 
reached the rancho of Mr. Murphy, and camped for 
the night under the evergreen oaks, which throw the 
soft shade of their undying verdure over a streamlet 
that murmurs near his door. The old gentleman in- 
vited us in to share his restricted apartments, but we 
had so long slept under trees, that we preferred the 
free air, the maternal earth, and the stars to light us to 
our slumber. Truly I never slept so soundly on the 



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CD O 

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THREE YEAKS IN CALIFOKMA. 3o3 

garnished couch, and never found in sleep such a 
renovating refreshment. I can now comprehend why 
it is the hunter chngs to his wild Hfe, and prefers the 
precarious subsistence of his rifle to teeming stalls. 
He lives out of himself; his sympathies are with 
nature ; his sensations roll through boundless space. 
It is for his eye the violet blooms, and the early cloud 
catches the blush of morn ; it is for his ear the bird 
sings from its green covert, and the torrent shouts 
from its cliff'; it is to cheer his footsteps that the twi- 
light lingers, and the star blazes in the coronet of 
night : all the changes of the varied year are for 
Jiiiii ; and around his wild- wood home the seasons 
lead the hours in perpetual dance ; and when his be- 
ing shall resign its trust, the dirge of the deep wood 
will sing his requiem, and the wings of the wind, 
filled with the fragrance of flowers, bear his spirit to 
its bright abode. 

Wednesday, Nov. 22. We broke camp at sun- 
rise, took our coflJee, harnessed up, and began to lum- 
ber ahead. Our driver, who owned the dull steeds 
which he reined, was a native of New England, and 
betrayed his origin in the perpetual hum of a low 
plaintive tune, which spun on for hours in the same 
unconscious monotony. Even the crack of his whip, 
which came in frequently, had only the effect to give 
some note a slight emphasis, while the low dirge still 
murmured on, true to its unbroken flow as the tick of 
the death-watch to its admonitory errand. Thus the 



334 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

hours of the day, their tender requiem being sung, 
stole silently into the past. 

But now occurred a wayfaring incident which 
could not thus be charmed to rest. Our team, about 
half way up the long hill of San Juan, balked, and 
the wagon began to roll back to its base. We jumped 
out and clogged the wheels, for we had no idea of re- 
turning again to the mines. Having breathed a 
moment, we made another attempt, but without suc- 
cess ; we now put our shoulders to the wheels, while 
the lash fell fast on the flanks of our horses. But no 
pushing, coaxing, or whipping availed ; our journey for 
the day was done, and abruptly too as that of a mi- 
gratory goose struck by a rifle ball. The shadows of 
the mountain pines were lengthening fast, and we re- 
tired into a glen at a short distance, and camped. It 
was my duty to procure water for coffee ; the spring 
where the horses drank was too full of impurities ; I 
followed up the unseen vein marked by the green 
willovv's, till its flowing wave murmured on the ear 
from the depths of a shadowy chasm. But the 
method of reaching it puzzled me as much as the 
faithful proxy of the Patriarch would have been, but 
for the pitcher and line of the gentle Rachel. How 
free of affectation and false alarm that daughter of 
Israel, as her snow-white arms drew the limpid tide 
to quench the stranger's thirst ! How free of a dis- 
trustful spirit, or disdaining pride, when told that one 
w^hom her father loved, sued for her bridal hand ! The 
wave which swelled in her milk-white bosom may 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 335 

have trembled a moment, like the leaf stirred in the 
rosy twilight, and the dream of her pillowed slumber 
may have flushed through the snow-curl of her cheek, 
but with the early lark, she was up and away — happy 
in her own youth and innocence, and in the thought 
that these were inwoven with the happiness of an- 
other. How hollow the pretexts of protracted delay, 
w^hen touched by the light which glimmers down 
through ages from the example of this primitive 
maiden ! But where am I ? — in the infant world in- 
stead of these chasmed rocks, which frown through 
the wrinkles of its decrepitude and age. How thought 
annihilates time and space ! The flower that first 
bloomed on the verge of the globe, as it emerged from 
chaos, and the cinder that will fade last in the embers 
of its final conflagration, lie side by side in the domain 
of thought ; and the star that hailed its birth, and the 
planet that will guard its tomb, are twin-born in 
the eternity of time. But I am off* again in a phi- 
losophic revery, and must come back to my cofl^ee- 
pot and chasm ! With the aid of a long riata, my 
bucket was lowered sufficiently to dip the unseen 
stream ; but drawing it up I discovered in its wave, as 
the surface became tranquil, what might well startle 
any one whose nerves were not of steel. It was a 
human face of bronze hue, half covered with tangled 
locks, and a beard of hermit growth, and so like that 
bent above, there was a relief in the ripple that de- 
stroyed the resemblance. But my camping compan- 
ions will never, at this rate, get their coflfee. 



336 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Thursday, Nov. 23. We escaped this morning 
another balk of our animals by a circling road which 
in the dusk of the last eve we had missed. It was 
mid-day when we rumbled from the hills of San Juan 
upon the plain of the Salinas, and near sunset when 
we reached the river, which rolls its yellow w^ave fif- 
teen miles from Monterey. We might have pushed 
through, but why be impatient over a night's delay ? 
I had no one there watching a husband's return, or 
waiting a father's kiss. These objects of endearment 
were in other lands, and oceans rolled between. 
More than three long years had worn away since I 
waved my adieu, and weary moons must set before 
my return. I may find the eyes that beamed so 
kindly, closed forever ; the bud of infant being, on 
which their last light fell, withered. 

We were roused in the night by screams from the 
river ; an ox-cart, with three women in it, had tum- 
bled down the opposite bank. The cattle seemed as 
much frightened as their passengers, and fared better, 
as they had struck a shallower bottom. We plunged 
in and reached the cart. Our first impulse was to 
take the women out and tote them ashore, but their 
great size and weight forbade. We wished to carry 
the thing through as gallantly as it had been begun ; 
but after casting about — the cold stream all the while 
lowering the thermometer of our enthusiasm — we 
concluded to drive the team out, and scramble out 
ourselves. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 337 

Friday, Nov. 24. We broke camp at an early 
hour, and were off for Monterey. I left my camping- 
tree as one parts with a tried friend. It was the last 
of a vernal band, that had thrown over me, at burninsr 
noon and through the chilly night, their protecting 
shade. While our driver hummed his low monoto- 
nous stave to his steeds, my neglected reed murmured 
in the counter — 

TO MY camping-tree. 

Farewell to tliee, my camping-tree, 

The last to shade tliis breast, 
"Where twilight weaves, with tender leaves, 

Her couch of rosy rest. 

Thy trembling leaf seemed shook with grief, 

As on it gleamed tlie dew ; 
As woke the bird, by night-winds stirred, 

Tlie stars came dancing through. 

In lucid dreams I caught the gleams- 
Through chasmed rocks imrolled — 

Of gems, where blaze the diamond's rays, 
And massive bars of gold. 

I saw a ship her anchor trip, 

All stowed with gold below, 
Depart this bay for Joppa's quay, 

Three thousand years ago ! 

A star-lit dome, of amber foam, 

Loomed in the Hquid blue. 
Where reigned of old, on thrones of gold, 

The Incas of Peru. 

29 



338 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

The midnight moans, and phrensied groans, 

Of miners near their last, 
In tones that cursed the gold they nursed. 

Came trembling on the blast. 

While one apart, with gentler heart, 
His still tears dashed aside, 

That he might trace a pictured face. 
At whicli lie gazed, and died. 

On steep and vale, m cahn and gale, 

Like music on the sea — 
Sweet slumber stole, witliin my soul, 

Beneath the camping-tree. 

A low-voiced tone, the wind hath thrown 

Upon my dreaming ear. 
Of ONE, whose smiles, and gentle wiles, 

Are still remembered here : — 

Of one, whose tears — where each endears 
The more the heart that wept — 

From swimming lid in silence slid, 
And on her bosom slept. 

A blue-eyed child, with glee half wild, 

In infant beauty's beams. 
And lock that roUed, in waving gold, 

Came glancing through my dreams. 

Farewell to thee, my camping-tree ; 

TiU life's last visions gleam, 
Thy leaves and limbs, and vesper hymns. 

Shall float in memoiy's dream. 



339 



CHAPTER XXV. 

CAUSE OF SICKNESS IN THE MINES. THE QUICKSILVER MIXES. HEAT AND 

COLD IN THE MINES. TRAITS IN THE SPANISH CHARACl'ER. — HEALTH OF 

CALIFORNIA LADIES. A WORD TO MOTHERS. THE PINGRASS AND BLACK- 
BIRD. THE REDWOOD-TREE. BATTLE OF THE EGGS. 

Saturday, Dec. 2. I found Monterey, on my re- 
turn from the mines, under the same quiet air in 
which her green hills had soared since I first beheld 
their waving shade. Many had predicted my pre- 
cipitate return, from the hardships and baffled attempt 
of the tour ; but I persevered, taking it rough and 
tumble from the first, and have returned with im- 
proved health. I met with but very few cases of sick- 
ness in the mines, and these obviously resulting from 
excessive imprudence. What but maladies could be 
expected, where the miner stands by the hour in a 
cold mountain stream, with a broiling sun overhead, 
and then, perhaps, drinking every day a pint of New 
England rum ? Why, the rum itself would shatter 
any constitution not lightning-proof. I wish those 
who send this fire-curse here were wrapped in its 
flames till the wave of repentance should baptize 
them into a better life. 

I have missed but two things, since my return, from 
my good^ and chattels — my walking-cane and my Bi- 
ble ; both have been carried off during my absence. 



340 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

I hope the latter will do the person who has taken it 
much good : I forgive the burglary for the sake of the 
benefit. Prometheus was chained to the Caucasian 
rock for having filched fire from heaven ; but no such 
fearful retribution awaits him who has stolen my Bi- 
ble, flooded though it be with a higher light than ever 
dawned on the eyes of the guilty Titan. May its 
spirit reach the oflfender's soul, and quicken thoughts 
that shall wander without rest till they light on the 
Cross, where hang the hopes of the world. 

Tuesday, Dec. 12. The quicksilver mines of Cal- 
ifornia constitute one of the most important elements 
in her mineral wealth. Only one vein has as yet 
been fully developed ; this lies a few miles from San 
Jose, and is owned by Hon. Alexander Forbes, Brit- 
ish consul at Type, in Mexico — a gentleman of vast 
means and enterprise — and who has a heart as full of 
generous impulses as his mine is of wealth. Many 
of our countrymen, in misfortune, have shared his 
munificent hberality. His mine, in the absence of 
suitable machinery, has been worked to great disad- 
vantage ; and yet, with two whaling-kettles for fur- 
naces, he has driven off a hundred and fifty pounds a 
day of the pure metal. If this can be done with an 
apparatus intended only for trying blubber, a ton may 
be rolled from a capacious retort constructed for 
the purpose. The title of Mr. Forbes to this mme 
has excited some inquiry, but it will be found among 
the soundest in California. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 841 

Instead of attempting to shake this title, a more 
wise and profitable course will be to open a fresh 
vein. They lie in the contiguous spurs of the same 
mountain range, and only require ' a small outlay of 
labor and capital to develop their untold wealth. The 
metal need not travel from California to find a mar- 
ket ; vast quantities will be required in the gold 
mines : the cradle and bowl must give place to more 
complicated machinery ; the sands of the river pass 
through a more delicate process ; and the quartz of 
the steep rock, crumbled under the stamper, surren- 
der its gold to the embrace of quicksilver. This stu- 
pendous issue is close at hand ; and they who antici- 
pate it, will find the fruits of their sagacity and enter- 
prise in sudden fortunes. 

Monday, Dec. 25. The multitudes who are in the 
mines, suffer in health and constitution from the ex- 
treme changes of temperature which follow day and 
night. In some of the ravines in which we camped, 
these variations vibrated through thirty and forty 
degrees. In mid-day we were driven into the shade 
to keep cool, and in the night into two or three blan- 
kets to keep warm. The heat is ascribable in part 
to the nature of the soil, its naked sandy features, its 
power of radiation, and the absence of circulation in 
the glens. But the cold comes with the visits of the 
night wind from the frosty slopes of the Sierra 
Nevada. 

These extreme variations follow the miner through 
29* 



342 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the whole region in which his tempting scenes of 
labor lie, and require a degree of prudence seldom 
met with in that wild woodland life. The conse- 
quence is, a group of maladies under which the strong- 
est constitution at length breaks down. But I am 
convinced from personal experience, that with proper 
precaution and suitable food, many, and most of these 
evils may be obviated. The southern mines are in 
elevations which exempt them from the maladies in- 
cident to the low lands which fringe the streams 
farther north. There are no stagnant waters, no de- 
composition of vegetable matter, no miasma drifting 
about in the fog, to shake and burn you with alternate 
chill and fever. I never enjoyed better health and 
spirits ; and never encountered in a great moving 
mass, notwithstanding their irregularities, so few in- 
stances of disease traceable to local causes. I have 
seen more groaners and grunters in one metropolitan 
household, than in any swarming ravine in the south- 
ern mines 

Sunday, Jan. 7. Lapses from virtue .ire not un- 
frequently associated, in the character of the Spanish 
female, with singular exhibitions of charity and self- 
denial. She is often at the couch of disease, un- 
shrinkingly exposed to contagion, or in the hovel of 
destitution, administering to human necessity. She 
pities where others reproach, and succors where 
others forsake. The motive which prompts this un- 
wearied charity, is a secret within her own soul. It 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 343 

may be as a poor expiation for conscious error, or the 
impulse of those kindly sentiments not yet extinct, or 
gratitude for that humanity which foregoes merited 
reprehension. Be the cause what it may, it justly 
retains her within the pale of Christian charity, and 
entitles her to that sympathy in her own misfortunes 
which she so largely bestows on the sorrows of 
others. 

Denunciation never yet protected the innocent, 
confirmed the wavering, or recovered the fallen. 
That spirit of ferocity which breaks the bruised reed, 
partakes more of relentless pride than virtuous dis- 
approbation. Many sever themselves from all sympa- 
thy with the erring, from the mistaken apprehension 
that the wider the chasm, the more advantageous the 
light in which they will appear. But that chasm 
which seems so wide to them, narrows to a faint line 
in the eye of Omniscience. Forgiveness is our duty; 
not that forgiveness which scorns and forsakes the 
object on which it is bestowed, but which seeks to 
reclaim the erring, and reinstate the fallen in merited 
confidence and esteem. When repentant guilt trem- 
bled and blushed in the presence of Him whose 
divine example is our guide, no frown darkened His 
brow, no malediction fell from His lips ; His absolv- 
ing injunction was — go, and sin no rnore. The bright- 
est stars are they which have emerged from a horizon 
of darkness. 



Tuesday, Jan. 16. The climate on the seaboard 



344 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

is remarkably equable ; it varies at Monterey, the 
year round, but little from sixty. You never lay 
aside your woollen apparel, and always feel ready for 
a bear-hunt, or any other field-sport that may tempt 
your taste or skill. Till the Americans came here 
there was hardly a house in the town which contained 
a fireplace ; even the cooking was done in a de- 
tached apartment, seemingly to avoid the straggling 
rays of its grate. The children ran about in the 
winter months without a shoe, and in their little cot- 
ton slips, the perfect pictures of health. The girl of 
seventeen, the mother of forty, and the venerable 
lady, who had reached her threescore and ten, were 
never seen hovering around a fire : they were at their 
household affairs, in apartments where a coal had 
never been kindled ; or in their gardens, where the 
last rain had revived their drooping plants ; or out in 
the woods at pic-nics, where the very birds sung out 
in rivalry of their jocund mirth. Health spread its 
rose in the cheek, and elastic life thrilled in the bound- 
ing limb. The birth of a child was only a momentary 
pause in this scene of pleasurable activity, and more 
than compensated for its brief encroachment in a 
new bud of being, to be clustered among the rest — 
now blooming in fragrant life around the parent tree. 
Think of this, ye mothers who cloister your daugh- 
ters in air-tight parlors, with furnaces blowing in 
hot steam from below. It is no wonder they wither 
from their cradles, and that their bridal couch is 
often ashes. Your mistaken tenderness, vanity, and 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 845 

pride have supplied death with trophies long enough. 
Look here to California ; among all these mothers 
and daughters, there is not one where the canker- 
worm of that disease is at work which has spread 
sorrow and dismay around your hearths. The insidi- 
ous disguises and sapping advances of the consump- 
tion are not known here ; I have not yet met with 
the first instance where this disease, contracted here, 
has found a victim. It is your in-door habits, hot 
parlors, prunellas, and twisting corsets, that clothe 
this generation with weeds, and bequeath to the next 
constitutions that fall like grass under the scythe of 
death. If your daughters won't take out-door exer- 
cise from persuasion, then drive them forth as the 
guardian angel of Eden your erring progenitrix. It 
may have been that the development of her physical 
forces, as well as retributive justice, induced her ex- 
pulsion from the luxurious roses, the balmy airs, and 
lulling streams of her first abode. But your Eves 
will come back again, and sparkling eyes, and buoy- 
ant spirits, and a vigorous pulse will commend your 
maternal wisdom ; and when a man, worthy of your 
confidence and the affections of your daughters, 
wants a wife, his choice will not lie in a group of 
valetudinarians. He carries off a bird that floats a 
strong wing, and that can sing in concert with him 
as they build the nest out of which other harmonies 
are to charm the warbling grove ; and then, too, the 
young fledglings will come back to you, all bright and 
beautiful, and touched with the spirit of gladness in 



346 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

which their breezy cradle swung. Why, is not this 
enough to make a mother's soul leap to her laughing 
eyes ! 

Wednesday, Jan. 24. Nature never leaves any 
portion of her troubled domain without a compensa- 
tion. Here, where the hills and plains, under the 
long summer's drought, become so parched and dry 
that the grasshoppers cease to sing, she presents a 
pingrass, on which the cattle still thrive ; and when 
this fails, it has already dropped a seed even more 
nutritious than the stem which sustained its bulbous 
cradle. For this, a California horse will leave the 
best bin of oats that ever waved in the harvest-moon. 
The first copious shower, which usually occurs in 
November, destroys it, but around its ruins another 
grass springs, to throw its green velvet, inwrought 
with millions of flowers, on the charmed eye. It is 
no wonder the birds here sing through the year, and 
forego those migrations to which they are subjected 
in other climes. The lay of the robin, the whistle of 
the quail, and the tender notes of the curlew, are al- 
ways piping in the grove, or filling with melody the 
garden- tree. 

Were the blackbird to migrate, and never come 
back, no farmer would regret his absence ; for he is 
a mischievous bird, who has no respect for the rights 
of property. He squats by millions where he likes, 
and would rob a wheat-field of its last kernel with a 
thousand thunders rattling overhead. His legions 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 347 

darken the heaven where they fly, and drown all other 

harmonies in the jargon of their obstreperous chatter. 

They are said to be good for a pot-pie ; and there are 

nough of them here to plump a pie around which 

mtions might sit and carve at will : and how much 

setter to be carving a common pie than carving into 

^ach other's lands, — to be popping at blackbirds than 

hooting each other. There is not a blackbird but 

what laughs under his glossy wing when he sees a 

man levelling his gun at another, which the sable 

rogue knows ought to be levelled at him ; and when 

the smoke-clouds loom up from the field of battle, he 

chatters in very glee, and even the eyes of the sedate 

raven are filled with unwonted light. Man makes 

himself a mournful tragedy and ludicrous comedy in 

the great creation of God. 

Wednesday, Feb. 7. There is one tree in Cali- 
fornia that is worthy of note, which is peculiar to the 
country, and as deserving a place on her coat-of-arms 
as her grizzly bear, and much more so, unless her 
people intend to overawe their neighbors with the 
terrors of their insignia. This tree is called the red- 
wood, and closely resembles, in its texture, size, and 
antiseptic qualities, the giant cedars which have 
pinnacled, through the storms of a thousand years, 
the steeps of Lebanon. It is found on the table-lands 
between the coast range and the sea, and grows in 
distinct forests, like the savage tribes which once 
slumbered in its shadows. Its shaft riser straight and 



348 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

free of limbs, till high over the wave of other trees it 
can spread its emerald sails to the wind, compact as 
the royals of a ship of the line. The wood is of a 
pale red hue, and easily yields to any shape under the 
implements of the carpenter, but is not sufficiently 
firm for the severer tests of cabinet work. It resists 
decay, whatever may be its exposure, and in the 
ground or on the roof is true to its trust. The same 
shingle which shook the rain from your grandsire, 
wards it from you ; and the same board which pan- 
nelled his coffin, echoes to the rumbling sounds of 
yours as you go down to join him. In a grove of 
these trees, only a short ride from Monterey, stands 
one measuring sixty feet in circumference ! Of its 
height I am not certain, as I had no means of meas- 
uring it — say three hundred feet — or at least as high 
as the steeple of that church, a warden of which, 
whb had caught the spirit of its elevation, is reported 
to have said in reply to a proposition for the intro- 
duction of lamps and an evening service, " this line 
goes through by daylight." Let those versed in 
moral mensuration determine the elevation of that 
warden's spiritual pride, and they will have the height 
of my tree exactly. 

Friday, Feb. 16. Mr. Larkin has closed the 
amusements of the carnival with a splendid entertain- 
ment, graced with all the beauty and bravery of 
Monterey. As no egg could be broken after mid- 
night, without trenching on the solemnities of Lent, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 349 

each went equipped with these weapons, ready for an 
early contest. Several small volleys opened the en- 
gagement between some of the parties ; while the 
fandango engrossed the attention of others. In this 
oval war the ladies are always the antagonists of the 
gentlemen, and, generally, through their dexterity, 
and larger supply of ammunition, bear off the palm. 
They will sometimes carry two or three dozen rounds 
each, and as snugly stowed away as cartridges in the 
box of a new recruit. Still both parties will fight it 
out — 

" With blow for blow, disputing inch by inch, 
Where one will not retreat, nor t'other flinch." 

But there were two shot in the company, in the 
shape of goose eggs, well filled with cologne, to which 
an unusual interest attached. One of them had 

been brought by Gen. M , the other by Donna 

J , and each was only watching an opportunity 

for a crash on the head of the other. Both were en- 
dowed with physical force, dexterity, and firmness, 
and a heart in which pity relaxed none of these ener- 
gies. Neither turned an eye but for a moment from 
the other ; but in that moment the donna dashed to 
the side of the general, and would have crashed her 
egg on his head, had not the blow been instantly par- 
ried. The assailed now became the assailant, and 
both were in for the last tests of skill — 

♦ " While none who saw them could divine 
To which side conquest would incline." 
30 



350 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

The donna changed her tactics, stood on the defen- 
sive and parried, and in one of these dexterous foils 
dashed her egg on the head of her antagonist, who, 
in the same instant, brought his down plump on hers. 
Both were drenched in cologne ; both victors in de- 
feat : a shout followed, which shook the rafters of the 
old tenement. The engagement now became gene- 
ral ; each had his antagonist, and must " do or die ;" 
the battle swayed this way and that — sometimes in 
Bingle combat, and at others in vollied platoons ; and 
then along the whole blazing line : each recoil was re- 
covered by a more vigorous assault ; each retreat in 
rallied thunder, more than redeemed ; while first and 
foremost, where wavered or withstood the foe — 

" Tlie donna cheered her band." 

But, in this most critical crisis of the field, the fire 
began to slacken along the line of the men ; their 
ammunition was giving out ; only a few rounds here 
and there remained ; the heroines perceived this, 
and opened with double round and grape on their 
foes — 

" Who form — unite — charge — ^waver — all is lost !" 

The bell tolled the hour of midnight, and Lent came 
in with her ashes to bury the dead ! They may trifle 
who will with this field ; but there was more in it 
worthy of a good man's remembrance than half the 
fields fought from Homer's day to this. If this be 
treason to the bullet and blood chivalry — make the 
most of it. 



351 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. — SCENEUY AROUND MONTEREY. — VINEYARDS OF LOS 

ANGELS. BEAUTY OF SAN DIEGO. THE CULPRIT HALL. THE RUSH FOR 

GOLD. LAND TITLES. THE INDIAN DOCTRESS. — TUFTED PARTRIDGE. 

DEATH OF COM. BIDDLE. 

Saturday, Feb. 24. All the land grants in Cali- 
fornia are blindly defined ; a mountain bluff, lagoon, 
river, or ravine serve as boundaries ; and these not 
unfrequently comprehend double the leagues or acres 
contemplated in the instrument. No accurate sur- 
veys have been made ; and the only legal restrictions 
falling within these vague limits, is in the shape of a 
provision that the excess shall revert to the public 
domain. This provision, which is inserted in most 
of the grants, will throw into the market, under an 
accurate survey, some of the best tracts in Califor- 
nia. These will be seized upon by capitalists and 
speculators, and held at prices beyond the means of 
emigrants, unless some legislative provision shall ex- 
tend peculiar privileges to actual settlers. 

The lands which lie through the gold region are 
uninvaded by any private grants, except one on the 
Maraposa, owned by Col. Fremont; one on the 
Cosumes, owned by W. E. P. Hartnell, and the 
limited claims of Johnson on Bear river, and Capt. 
Sutter on the Americano. All the other lands stretch- 
ing from Feather river on the north, to the river Reys 



352 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

on the south, covering five hundred miles along the 
slopes of the Sierra Nevada, belonging to the public 
domain, and should never become private property 
so long as it is for the interests of the United States 
to encourage mining in Cahfornia. Any system of 
private proprietorship will result in monopoly and 
bloodshed. Let companies lease their sections, and 
private individuals pay their license ; and let every 
regulation look more to the encouragement it extends, 
than the revenue it exacts. 

Tuesday, Feb. 27. At an early hour this morn- 
ing a huge floating mass, with her steep sides dark as 
night, was seen winding into the bay without sail, 
wind, or tide. Such a wizard phenomenon was never 
seen before on this coast, and might well alann the 
natives, especially when the great guns of the fort 
rolled their thunder at her : and still she neared ! 
heaving the still waters into cataracts at her side, 
and sending up her steep column of smoke, as if a 
young Etna were at work within. They who had 
witnessed such things in other parts of the world, 
shouted " The steamer ! the steamer !" and instantly 
the echo came back with redoubled force from a 
hundred crowded balconies. The whole community 
was thrown into excitement, wonder, and gratula- 
tion ; cheers and shouts of welcome rent the air ; all 
liquors were free to brim the bumpers ; and basket 
after basket of champagne went gratuitously into the 
streets, till their flying corks rose like musket-shot in 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 353 

a general feu de joie. The last distrust of good faith 
in the government vanished ; and all saw the dawn of 
a higher destiny breaking over California. The en- 
terprise of a Howland and Aspinwall blazed in this 
new aurora, and filled the whole horizon with light. 
The golden promise which had floated in doubt and 
earnest hope had been redeemed and the union of 
California with the glorious confederacy achieved. 
What now were oceans and an isthmus ! — only a few 
waves and a narrow line of earth, unfelt under the 
conquering powers of steam. Such was the tumult 
of transport which hailed the first steamer ; such her 
welcome to the el dorado of the West. No gold mine 
sprung in the Sierra ever roused half the wonder, 
hope, and general joy. 

Monday, March 5. The scenery around Mon- 
terey and the locale of the town, arrest the first 
glance of the stranger. The wild waving background 
of forest-feathered chfis, the green slopes, and the 
glimmering walls of the white dwellings, and the dash 
of the billows on the sparkling sands of the bay, fix 
and charm the eye. Nor does the enchantment fade 
by being familiarly approached ; avenues of almost 
endless variety lead off through the circling steeps, 
and winding through long shadowy ravines, lose 
themselves in the vine-clad recesses of the distant 
hills. It is no wonder that California centred her 
taste, pride, and wealth here, till the Vandal irruption 
of gold-hunters broke into her peaceful domain. Now 
30* 



354 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

all eyes are turned to San Francisco, with her mud 
bottoms, her sand hills, and her chill winds, which cut 
the stranger like hail driven through the summer sol- 
stice. Avarice may erect its shanty there, but con- 
tentment, and a love of the wild and beautiful, will 
construct its tabernacle among the flowers, the waving 
shades, and fragrant airs of Monterey. And even 
they who now drive the spade and drill in the mines, 
when their yellow pile shall fill the measure of their 
purposes, will come here to sprinkle these hills with 
the mansions and cottages of ease and refinement. 
Among these soaring crags the step of youth will still 
spring, and beauty garland her tresses with wild- 
flowers in the mirror of the mountain stream. Alas ! 
that eyes so bright should be closed so soon, and that 
a step so light and free should lead but to that narrow 
house which holds no communion with the pulses 
which will still roll through nature's great heart ! 

Wednesday, March 7. Emigrants, when the 
phrensy of the mines has passed, will be strongly 
attracted to los Angeles, the capital of the southern 
department. It stands inland from San Pedro about 
eight leagues, in the bosom of a broad fertile plain, 
and has a population of two thousand souls. The 
San Gabriel pours its sparkling tide through its green 
borders. The most delicious fruits of the tropical 
zone may flourish here. As yet, only the grape and 
fig have secured the attention of the cultivator ; but 
the capacities of the soil and aptitudes of the climate 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 355 

are attested in the twenty thousand vines, which reel 
in one orchard, and which send through CaHfornia a 
wine that need not blush in the presence of any rival 
from the hills of France or the sunny slopes of Italy. 
To these plains the more quiet emigrants will ere 
long gather, and convert their drills into pruning- 
hooks, and we shall have wines, figs, dates, almonds, 
olives, and raisins from California. The gold may 
give out, but these are secure while nature remains. 

San Diego is another spot to which the tide of 
immigration must turn. It stands on the border line 
of Alta California, and opens on a land-locked bay of 
surpassing beauty. The climate is soft and mild the 
year round ; the sky brilliant, and the atmosphere 
free of those mists which the cold currents throw on 
the northern sections of the coast. The sea-breeze 
cools the heat of summer, and the great ocean her- 
self modulates into the same temperature the rough 
airs of winter. The seasons roll round, varied only 
by the fresh fruits and flowers that follow in their 
train. I would rather have a willow-wove hut at 
San Diego, with ground enough for a garden, than 
the whole peninsula of San Francisco, if I must live 
there. The one is a Vallambrosa, where only the 
zephy rstirs her light wing ; the other a tempest-swept 
cave of tEoIus, where the demons of storm shake their 
shivering victims. The lust of gold will people the 
one, but all that is lovely in the human heart spread 
its charm over the other. Before the eyes that fall 
on these pages are under death's shadow, San Diego 



356 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

will have become the queen of the south in California, 
encircled with vineyards and fields of golden grain, 
and gathering into her bosom the flowing commerce 
of the Colorado and Gila. 

Thursday, March 8. The town-hall, on which 
I have been at work for more than a year, is at last 
finished. It is built of a white stone, quarried from a 
neighboring hill, and which easily takes the shape 
you desire. The lower apartments are for schools ; 
the hall over them — seventy feet by thirty — is for 
public assemblies. The front is ornamented with a 
portico, which you enter from the hall. It is not an 
edifice that would attract any attention among pub- 
lic buildings in the United States ; but in California 
it is without a rival. It has been erected out of the 
slender proceeds of town lots, the labor of the con- 
victs, taxes on liquor shops, and fines on gamblers. 
The scheme was regarded with incredulity by many; 
but the building is finished, and the citizens have as- 
sembled in it, and christened it after my name, which 
will now go down to posterity with the odor of gam- 
blers, convicts, and tipplers. I leave it as an hum- 
ble evidence of what may be accomplished by rigidly 
adhering to one purpose, and shrinking from no per- 
sonal efforts necessary to its achievement. A prison 
has also been built, and mainly through the labor of 
the convicts. Many a joke the rogues have cracked 
while constructing their own cage ; but they have 
worked so diligently I shall feel constrained to pardon 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 357 

out the less incorrigible. It is difficult here to dis- 
criminate between offences which flow from moral 
hardihood, and those which result, in a measure, from 
untoward circumstances. There is a wide difference 
in the turpitude of the two ; and an alcalde under 
the Mexican law, has a large scope in which to exer- 
cise his sense of moral justice. Better to err a fur- 
long with mercy than a fathom with cruelty. Un- 
merited punishment never yet reformed its subject ; 
to suppose it, is a libel on the human soul. 

Friday, March 9. There is one event in the re- 
cent history of California, which has carried with it 
decisive moral results. Till the intelligence of peace 
reached here, a bewildering expectation had been en- 
tertained by many, that Mexico would never consent 
to part with this portion of her domain. This idea, 
vague and groundless as it was, interfered with all 
permanent plans of action affecting individual capital 
and enterprise. To this state of uncertainty the 
news of peace, which reached here in August, gave 
an effectual quietus. The event was announced to 
the community by order of Gen. Mason, through a 
national salute from the fort; and hardly had the 
echoes died away among the hills, when its certainty 
sunk deep and firm into the convictions of all. The 
result was a revulsion of feeling towards Mexico, 
which no repentant action on her part could ever 
overcome. The native people felt that they had been 
sold, and expressed in no measured terms their indig- 



358 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

nation. They had no objections to the transfer of al- 
legiance ; but they scorned the barter, and denounced 
the treachery, as they termed it, which had put a 
price upon their heads. The old Spanish blood was 
up, and flaming, like the lake which rolls its tide of 
fire in the breast of Vesuvius. From that day to this, 
I have never heard one native citizen express for 
Mexico even that poor sentiment of regard with 
which pity sometimes softens an indignant contempt. 
The only regret was, that the American arms were 
withdrawn from that country, and that her national 
existence was not extinct. This feeling remains, and 
will still be felt in the various relations of society, 
when the native mass has been swallowed up in the 
emigrant tide, as a rivulet in the majesty of the moun- 
tain stream. 

Sunday, March 11. What crowds are rushmg 
out here for gold ! what multitudes are leaving their 
distant homes for this glittering treasure ! Can gold 
warrant the hazards of the enterprise ? Can it com- 
pensate the toils and suffering which it imposes ? Can 
it repair a shattered constitution, or bring back the 
exhilarating pulse and play of youth ? Let the wrecks 
of those who have perished speak ; let the broken 
hearts and hopes of thousands utter their admonition : 
their voices come surging over these pines, breaking 
from these cliffs, sighing in the winds, and knelling 
from the clouds. Your treasures you must resign at 
the dark portal of the grave ; there the glittering heap, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 359 

and the strong arms which wrenched it from the mine, 
he down together ; the spirit walketh alone through 
that troubled night ; but a ray twinkles through its 
long aisle of darkness : follow that in meekness and 
faith, and it will lead you to the spirit-land. There 
dwell your kindred who adorned virtue with a spirit 
of contentment, — there the parent whose latest prayer 
was for you, — there the sister, who, in the hush of 
voices around, heard the sweet strains of an unseen 
harp, and was charmed away from the delusive dreams 
of earth, ere a hope of the heart had been broken, or 
sorrow had saddened a smile. What is wealth to 
such an inheritance ? what the society of kings to 
such companionship ? Plume your v^^ing for heaven 
ere it droops in the death-dew of its dissolving 
strength. 

Tuesday, March 20. The land-titles in California 
ought to receive the most indulgent construction. 
But few of them have all the forms prescribed by 
legislative enactments, but they have official insignia 
sufficient to certify the intentions of the government. 
To disturb these grants would be alike impolitic and 
unjust ; it would be to convert the lands which they 
cover to the public domain, and ultimately turn them 
over to speculators and foreign capitalists. Better 
let them remain as they are : they are now in good 
hands ; they are held mostly by Californians, — a class 
of persons who part with them on reasonable terms. 
No Californian grinds the face of the poor, or refuses 



( 



360 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

an emigrant a participation in his lands. I have 
seen them dispose of miles for a consideration less 
than would be required by Americans for as many- 
acres. You are shut up to the shrewdness and sharp- 
ness of the Yankee on the one hand, and the libe- 
rality of the Californian on the other. Your choice 
lies between the two, and I have no hesitation in say- 
ing, give me the Californian. If he has a farm, and 
I have none, he will divide with me ; but who ever 
heard of a Yankee splitting up his farm to accom- 
modate emigrants ? Why, he will not divide with his 
own sons till death has divided him from both. 
Yankees are good when mountains are to be levelled, 
lakes drained, and lightning converted into a vegeta- 
ble manure ; but as a landholder, deliver me from his 
map and maw. He wants not only all on this side 
of creation's verge, but a leetle that laps over the 
other. 

Wednesday, March 28. A young friend of mine 
had been several months in Monterey, confined to his 
room, and nearly helpless, from an ugly sore on one 
of his limbs. The skill of the whole medical profes- 
sion here, in the army and navy, and out of them, 
had been exerted in this case, and baffled. At last, 
the discouraged patient sent for an old Indian wo- 
man, who has some reputation among the natives for 
medical sagacity in roots and herbs. She examined 
the sore, and the next day brought to the patient a 
poultice and pot of tea. The application was made 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 361 

and the beverage drank as directed. These were re- 
newed two or three times, and the young man is now 
running about the streets, or hunting his game, sound 
as a nut. 

This same Indian woman is the only physician I 
had when attacked with the disease which carried off 
Lieut. Miner and several others attached to the pub- 
lic service. In a half-delirious state, which followed 
close upon the attack, I looked up and saw bending 
over me the kind Mrs. Hartnell — one of the noblest 
among the native ladies of California — and at her 
side stood this Indian woman feeling my pulse. Mrs. 
H. remained, while her medical attendant went away, 
but returned soon with the Indian medicaments which 
were to arrest, or remedy this rapid and critical dis- 
ease. I resigned myself to all her drinks and baths ; 
she did with me just what she pleased. She broke 
the fever without breaking me ; restored my strength, 
and in a week I was in my office, attending to my 
duties. What she gave me I know not, but I believe 
her roots and herbs saved my life, as well as the leg 
of my friend. 

Saturday, April 7. The quail, or tufted partridge, 
abounds in California, and is a dehcious bird. A 
walk of ten minutes in any direction from Monterey, 
will bring you into their favorite haunts. But they 
are extremely shy ; it is no easy matter to strike them 
on the wdng : they are out of one bush and into an- 
other before you can level your piece, unless, like the 
31 



3(32 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Irishman hitting his weasel, you fire first and take 
aim afterwards. I must attribute my success fre- 
quently to hits of this kind ; for a deliberate aim was 
sure to come too late, — ^just hke an old bachelor's 
proposal of marriage, which, as his vanity whispers 
him, might have been accepted had it been made a 
little sooner, but now the dulcinia has changed her 
mind, and the fat is all in the fire. What a pity that 
such a pelican should be left alone in this world's 
wilderness, and the community be deprived of all the 
little pelicans that might have been ! But I was 
speaking of quail, and not of pelicans, and of the diffi- 
culty of hitting them. Gen. Mason is the best shot 
here ; a quail, to fly his fire, must be as quick on the 
wing as a message, in its sightless career, over one of 
Morse's magnetic wires. To me one of the most en- 
ticing features in California life is presented in her 
game. It comes in every variety of form, from the 
elk and buck that rove her forests and prairies, to the 
rabbit that undermines the garden-hedsce ; and from 
the wild goose and duck, which sweep in clouds her 
ruffled waters, to the little beca that feeds on her figs. 
A good sportsman might live the year round, amid 
these meadows and mounds, on the trophies of his 
fowhng-piece and rifle, and as independent of civilized 
life as any savage that ever bent the bow or steadied 
his bark canoe over the rushing verge of the cascade. 

Tuesday, April 17. That spirit of prophecy which 
sometimes trembles in an adieu, occurred forcibly to 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 363 

n:e on receiving the intelligence of the death of Com. 
Bi Jdle. His last words were omens, if such a thing 
L'-ay be. He had ordered the Columbus to be ready 
lor sea the next morning, and had come ashore for a 
w idk in the woods which skirt Monterey. We had 
iiscended the summit of a hill which commands a 
wide range of waving woods, gleaming meadows, and 
ocean's blue expanse. The great orb of day was on 
the horizon, and the eye of the commodore was fast- 
ened upon it as it sunk in solemn majesty from sight. 
He had not spoken for several minutes ; when, turn- 
ing to me, he said — "This is my last walk among 
these hills, and something whispers me that all my 
walks end here." This was said with that look and 
manner in which the undertone of a man's thoughts 
will sometimes find words without his will. It was 
utterly at variance with the cool, philosophical habits 
which were eminently characteristic of the commo- 
dore, and which he seldom relinquished, except in 
some sally of humor and wit. This remark woke 
like a slumber of the shroud, on the sudden intelli- 
gence of his death. It may be a superstition, but I 
shall never resign, to a skeptical philosophy, the 
omen and its seeming fulfilment. The future is often 
prefigured in an incident or sentiment of the present, 

" An undefined and sudden thrill, 
That makes the heart a moment still — 
Then beat with quicker pulse, ashamed 
Of that strange sense itseK had framed." 



364 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

The hill-top and the waving forest remain, but the 
commodore — where is he ? Gone, like a star from its 
darkened watch-tower on high ! But the night which 
quenched the beam is still fringed with light. To 
this surviving ray we turn in bereavement and grief. 
His genius lighted the objects of thought on which it 
touched, and glanced, with an intuitive force, through 
the subtle problems of the mind. His mental horizon 
was broad, and yet every object within its wide cir- 
cle was distinctly seen, and seen in its true position 
and relative importance. The trifling never rose 
into the great, and the majestic never became tame. 
Each stood, in his clear vision, as truth and reason 
had stamped it. He was cool and collected without 
being stoical, and immovably firm without being ar- 
bitrary. He had that courage which could never be 
shaken by surprise, made giddy with success, or 
quelled by disaster. Whatever subject he assayed, 
he mastered. He has left but few behind him, out of 
the legal profession, more thoroughly versed in ques- 
tions of international law and maritime jurisprudence. 
Had not his early impulses taken him to the deck, he 
might have been eminent at the bar, in the cabinet, 
or hall of legislation. He had all the clearness and 
comprehensiveness of a great statesman. Gratitude 
twines this leaf of remembrance and respect into that 
chaplet which the bereavement of the service has 
woven on his grave. 



365 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE GOLD REGIOM. ITS LOCALITY, NATURE, AND EXTENT. FOREIGNERS 

IN THE MINES. THE INDIANS' DISCOVERY OF GOLD. AGRICULTURAL 

CAPABILITIES OF CALIFORNIA. SERVICES OF UNITED STATES OFFICERS. 

FIRST DECISIVE MOVEMENT FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF A CIVIL GOVERN- 
MENT. INTELLIGENCE OF THE DEATH OF GEN. KEARNY. 

Thursday, April 26. The gold region, which con- 
tains deposits of sufficient richness to reward the 
labor of working them, is strongly defined by nature. 
It lies along the foot hills of the Sierra Nevada — a 
mountain range running nearly parallel with the 
coast — and extends on these hills about five hundred 
miles north and south, by thirty or forty east and west. 
From the slopes of the Sierra, a large number of 
streams issue, which cut their channels through these 
hills, and roll with greater or less volume to the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The Sacra- 
mento rises in the north, and flowing south two hun- 
dred and fifty miles, empties itself into the Suisun, or 
upper bay of San Francisco. The San Joaquin rises 
in the south, and flowing north two hundred miles, 
discharges itself into the same bay. The source of 
the San Joaquin is a narrow lake lying still further 
south, and extending in that direction about eighty 
miles. 

The streams which break into these rivers from 
31* 



366 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the Sierra Nevada, are from ten to thirty miles dis- 
tant from each other. They commence with Feather 
river on the north, and end with the river Reys on 
the south. They all have numerous tributaries ; are 
rapid and wild on the mountain slopes, and become 
more tranquil and tame as they debouch upon the 
plain. Still their serpentine waters, flashing up among 
the trees which shadow their channels, give a pic- 
turesque feature to the landscape, and relieve it of 
that monotony which would otherwise fatigue the 
eye. But very few of these rivers have sufficient 
depth and regularity to render them navigable. Their 
sudden bends, falls, and shallows would puzzle even 
an Indian canoe, and strand any boat of sufficient 
draft to warrant the agency of steam. 

The alluvial deposits of gold are confined mainly 
to the banks and bars of these mountain streams, and 
the channels of the gorges, which intersect them, 
and throuirh which the streams are forced when 
swollen by the winter rains. In the hills and table- 
lands, which occupy the intervals between these cur- 
rents and gorges, no alluvial deposits have been 
found. Here and there a few detached pieces have 
been discovered, forming an exception to some gene- 
ral law by which the uplands have been deprived of 
their surface treasures. The conclusion at which I 
have arrived, after days and weeks of patient re- 
search, and a thousand inquiries made of others, is, 
that the alluvial deposits of gold in California are 
mainly confined to the banks and bars of her streams, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 367 

and the ravines which intersect them. The only 
material exception to this general law is found in 
those intervening deposits, from which the streams 
have been diverted by some local cause, or some con- 
vulsion of nature. Aside from these, no surface gold 
to any extent has been found on the table-lands or 
plains. Even the banks of the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin, stretching a distance of five hundred miles 
through their valleys, have not yielded an ounce. 
The mountain streams, long before they discharge 
themselves into these rivers, deposit their precious 
treasures. They contribute their waters, but not 
their gold. Like cunning misers they have stowed 
this away, and no enchantments can make them whis- 
per of its whereabouts. If you would find it, you 
must hunt for it as for hid treasures. 

Monday, May 14. Much has been said of the 
amounts of gold taken from the mines by Sonora- 
nians, Chilians, and Peruvians, and carried out of the 
country. As a general fact, this apprehension and 
alarm is without any sound basis. Not one pound of 
gold in ten, gathered by these foreigners, is shipped 
off to their credit : it is spent in the country for pro- 
visions, clothing, and in the hazards of the gaming- 
table. It falls into the hands of those who command 
the avenues of commerce, and ultimately reaches our 
own mints. I have been in a camp of five hundred 
Sonoranians, who had not gold enough to buy a 
month's provisions— all had gone, through their im- 



368 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

t 

provident habits, to the capacious pockets of the Amer- 
icans. To drive them out of California, or interdict 
their operations, is to abstract that amount of labor 
from the mines, and curtail proportionably the pro- 
ceeds. If gold, slumbering in the river banks and 
mountains of California, be more valuable to us than 
when stamped into eagles and incorporated into our 
national currency, then drive out the Sonoranians : 
but if you would have it hej^e and not there, let those 
diggers alone. When gold shall begin to fail, or re- 
quire capital and machinery, you will want these 
hardy men to quarry the rocks and feed your stamp- 
ers ; and when you shall plunge into the Cinnebar 
mountains, you will want them to sink your shafts 
and kindle fires under your great quicksilver retorts. 
They will become the hewers of wood and drawers 
of water to American capital and enterprise. But if 
you want to perform this drudgery yourself, drive 
out the Sonoranians, and upset that cherished system 
of political economy founded in a spirit of wisdom 
and national justice. 

Tuesday, May 22. I was in possession of a fact 
which left no doubt of the existence of gold in the 
Stanislaus more than a year prior to its discovery on 
the American Fork. A wild Indian had straggled 
into JNIonterey with a specimen, which he had ham- 
mered into a clasp for his bow. It fell into the hands 
of my secretary, W. R. Garner, who communicated 
the secret to me. The Indian described the locality 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. , 369 

in which it was found with so much accuracy that 
Mr. G., on his recent excursion to the mines, readily- 
identified the spot. It is now known as " Carson's 
diggings." No one who has been there can ever for- 
get its wild majestic scenery, or confound its soaring 
cliffs or sunless chasms with the images projected 
from other objects. It was the full intention of Mr. 
G. to trail this Indian at the first opportunity, and 
he was prevented from doing it only by the impera- 
tive duties of the office. His keeping the discovery 
a secret, proceeded less from any sinister motive than 
an eccentricity of character. He had another min- 
eral secret which has not yet transpired — the exist- 
ence of a tin mine, near San Louis Obispo. The ex- 
tent is not known, but certainly the specimen shown 
me was very rich. Mr. Garner is now dead : it was 
his melancholy fate to fall with five others by the 
wild Indians on the river Reys. To that party I 
should have been attached had I remained in Califor- 
nia another month. How narrow those escapes 
which run their mystic thread between two worlds ! 
On the grave of my friend, gratitude for important 
services, and a remembrance of many sterling vir- 
tues, might well erect a memorial. 

Thursday, May 24. The capabilities of the soil 
of California for agricultural purposes involve a ques- 
tion of profound interest, and one which is not easily 
answered. There are no experimental facts of suffi- 
cient scope to warrant a general conclusion. Where 



370 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the soil itself leaves no doubt of its richness, its pro- 
ductive forces may be baffled by local circumstances 
or atmospheric phenomena. Some of the largest 
crops that have ever rewarded the toil of the hus- 
bandman, have been gathered in California ; and yet 
those very locaUties, owing to a slender fall of the 
winter rains, have next season disappointed the 
hopes of the cultivator. The farmer can never be 
certain of an abundant harvest till he is able to sup- 
ply this deficiency of rain by a process of irrigation. 
This can be done, in some places, by the diversion of 
streams, and must be accomplished in others through 
artesian wells. It will be some years before either 
will be brought into effective force in the agricultural 
districts. 

The lands on which cultivation has been attempt- 
ed occupy a narrow space between the coast ranges 
and the sea ; it seldom exceeds in width thirty miles, 
and is often reduced to ten by the obtrusion of some 
mountain spur. East of this range no plough has 
ever travelled ; no furrow has ever been turned in 
the long valley of the San Joaquin ; and if the other 
sections of this valley correspond to those over which 
I passed, there can be very little encouragement for 
the introduction of husbandry. The soil is light and 
gravelly; the grass meagre and sparse; even the 
wild horses and elk seek its margin, as if afraid to 
trust themselves to the Sahara of its bosom. Still, 
in some of its bays, the evidences of fertility exist, 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 371 

but as a district it will never add much to the agri- 
cultural wealth of CaHfornia. 

The valley of the Sacramento has many localities 
of great fertility ; but few of them, as yet, have been 
subjected to the plough and harrow ; their adaptation 
to agriculture is inferred from their vigorous vegeta- 
tion. The same evidences of productive force cover 
several tracts north of San Francisco, on the Rus- 
sian river, and in the vicinity of Sonoma. But the 
most fertile lands in California, as yet developed, lie 
around the missions of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz, 
through the long narrow valleys of San Jose and San 
Juan, along the margin of the Salinas, through the 
dells of San Louis Obispo, and in the vicinity of los 
Angeles. These, and other insular spots, may be 
made perfect gardens ; but take California as a whole, 
she is not the country which agriculturists would 
select. Her whole mining region is barren ; nature 
rested there with what she put beneath the soil. You 
can hardly travel through it in midsummer without 
loading your mule down with provender to keep him 
alive. The productive forces of such a state as New 
York, Ohio, or Pennsylvania, sweep immeasurably 
beyond the utmost capabilities of California. It is 
the golden coronet that gives this land her pre-emi- 
nence, and puts into her hand a magic wand, that 
will shake for ages the exchanges of the civilized 
world. 

Tuesday, June 12. At the return of Gen. Kearny, 



372 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the command of the military posts of the country, 
the suppression of popular disturbancies, the protec- 
tion of property from the incursion of the Indians, 
and the collection of the custom-house revenues have 
devolved on Gen. Mason. To these complicated 
duties he has surrendered his energies with an un- 
w^earied fidelity and force. No one great interest con- 
fided to his indomitable activity has languished. He 
has derived indispensable aid from the intelligent ser- 
vices of Col. Stevenson, Maj. Folsom, Capt. Halleck, 
and Lieut. Sherman, of the army, and Lieut. Lanman, 
of the navy. These officers, and others that might 
be named, without any increased compensation, and 
subjected to heavy expenses, have cheerfully dis- 
charged the onerous duties devolved upon them by 
the condition of the country. 

The regiment of volunteers under Col. Stevenson 
arrived too late for any active participation in the 
war. The insurrection had been suppressed, and the 
country was in the peaceful occupation of the Ameri- 
cans. Still they were with great propriety retained 
in the service, and their presence at different points 
tended to discourage any attempts at revolutionary 
movements. They were, many of them, youth who 
nad not been reared under the most auspicious cir- 
cumstances, and the adventures of a camp life were 
but little calculated to supply the defects of education. 
They gave the colonel and his officers some trouble, 
and the communities where they were stationed some 
solicitude. But they are now in a condition, where 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 373 

every one is thrown upon his own resources, where 
every thing good in a man may be developed. They 
have been sowing their wild oats, and will now go to 
planting corn. 

Saturday, June 16. The primary movements in 
California for the organization of a civil government 
had no connection with any instructions from Wash- 
ington. The first great meeting on the subject was 
held in Monterey in January, 1849. At this meeting 
I was called upon to draft a preamble and resolutions, 
setting forth the condition of the country, the ne- 
cessity of a civil organization, and providing for the 
election of proper delegates to a convention, to be held 
at San Jose on the 27th of February, in which all 
the districts of the Territory were to be represented, 
and where a suitable constitution was to be framed. 
These resolutions were sent to all the principal towns, 
and adopted. But upon more mature reflection, it 
was deemed expedient, in order to prevent any col- 
lision with the possible action of Congress, to post- 
pone the assembling of the convention to the first of 
May, that the proceedings of that body might be 
known. This is the true history of those primary 
and decisive measures which have resulted in that 
noble constitution which now throws its sacred segis 
over California. The friends of the last and present 
administration, instead of contending for the honor 
of an active participation in the origin and progress 
of this instrument, deftly box back and forth the 
32 



374 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

responsibility of its provisions. But their political 
timidity is without any just grounds; for neither 
afforded any countenance or aid till the rubicon had 
been passed: so that all this shuttlecock business 
between the last and present administration, is a su- 
perfluous exhibition of dexterity and skill. Much 
good may it do the players, only let not California 
suffer too much while the sport is going on. 

Wednesday, June 20. The causes which exclude 
slavery from California lie within a nut-shell. All 
here are diggers, and free white diggers wont dig 
with slaves. They know they must dig themselves : 
they have come out here for that purpose, and they 
wont degrade their calling by associating it with 
slave-labor : self-preservation is the first law of na- 
ture. They have nothing to do with slavery in the 
abstract, or as it exists in other communities ; not one 
in ten cares a button for its abolition, nor the Wilmot 
proviso either : all they look at is their own position ; 
they must themselves swing the pick, and they wont 
swing it by the side of negro slaves. That is their 
feeling, their determination, and the upshot of the whole 
business. An army of half a million, backed by the 
resources of the United States, could not shake theii 
purpose. Of all men with whom I have ever met, 
the most firm, resolute, and indomitable, are the emi- 
grants into California. They feel that they have got 
into a new world, where they have a right to shape and 
settle things in their own way. No mandate, unless 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 375 

it comes like a thunder-bolt straight out of heaven, is 
regarded. They may offer to come into the Union, but 
they consider it an act of condescension, like that of 
Queen Victoria in her nuptials with Prince Albert. 
They walk over hills treasured with the precious 
ores ; they dwell by streams paved with gold ; while 
every mountain around soars into the heaven, circled 
with a diadem richer than that which threw its halo 
on the seven hills of Rome. All these belong to 
them ; they walk in their midst ; they feel their pres- 
ence and power, and partake of their grandeur. 
Think you that such men will consent to swing the 
pick by the side of slaves ? Never ! while the stream 
owns its source, or the mountain its base. You may 
call it pride, or what you will, but there it is — deep 
as the foundations of our nature, and unchangeable as 
the laws of its divine Author. 

Tuesday, June 26. The intelligence of the death 
of Gen. Kearny has been received here with many 
expressions of affectionate remembrance. During 
his brief sojourn in California, his considerate dispo- 
sition, his amiable deportment and generous policy, 
had endeared him to the citizens. They saw in him 
nothing of the ruthless invader, but an intelligent, 
humane general, largely endowed with a spirit of for- 
bearance and fraternal regard. The conflict which 
arrested his progress at Pasquel, and the disaster in 
which so many of his brave men sunk overpowered, 
were contemplated, by the more considerate of the 



376 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

inhabitants, rather with a sentiment of regret than 
an air of triumph. They seemed to regard these 
events as a waste of Hfe — as a reckless resistance on 
their part, which, if successful for a time, could only 
have the effect to continue, for a brief period, the 
sway of leaders in whose prudence and patriotism 
they had no confidence. They took leave of him 
with regret, and have received the tidings of his 
death with sympathy and sorrow. It is not for me 
to write his eulogy ; it is graven on the hearts of all 
who knew him. His star set without a cloud ; but 
its light lingers still : when all the watch-fires of the 
tented field have gone out, a faithful ray will still 
light the shrine which aflfection and bereavement 
have reared to his worth. 

" Still o'er the past warm memory wakes, 
And fondly broods with miser-care ; 
Time but the impression deeper makes, 
As streams their channels deeper wear." 





^2^ 



377 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

RIDE OF COL. FREMONT FROM LOS ANGELES TO MONTEREY AND BACK. THB 

PARTY. THE RELAYS. CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. THE RINCON. 

SKELETONS OF DEAD HORSES. A ST.\MPEDE. GRAY BEARS. RECEPTION 

AT MONTEREY. THE RETURN. THE TWO HORSES RODE BY COL. FREMONT, 

AN EXPERIMENT. THE RESULT. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CALIFOR- 
NIA HORSE. FOSSIL REMAINS. THE TWO CLASSES OF EMIGRANTS. 

LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. HEADS AGAINST TAILS. 

TfiE ride of Col. Fremont in March, 1847, from 
the ciudad de los Angeles to Monterey in Alta Cali- 
fornia — a distance of four hundred and twenty miles — 
and back, exhibits in a strong light the iron nerve of 
the rider, and the capacities of the California horse. 
The party on this occasion, consisted of the colonel, 
his friend Don Jesuse Pico, and his servant Jacob 
Dodson. Each had three horses, nine in all, to take 
their turn under the saddle, and relieve each other 
every twenty miles ; while the six loose horses gal- 
loped ahead, requiring constant vigilance and action 
to keep them on the path. The relays were brought 
under the saddle by the lasso, thrown by Don Jesuse 
or Jacob, who, though born and raised in Washing- 
ton, in his long expeditions with Col. Fremont, had 
become expert as a Mexican with the lasso, sure as a 
mountaineer with the rifle, equal to either on horse 
or foot, and always a lad of courage and fidelity. 

32* 



378 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

The party left los Angeles on the morning of the 
22d, at daybreak, though the call which took the 
colonel to Monterey, had reached him only the eve- 
ning before. Their path lay through the wild moun- 
tains of San Fernando, where the steep ridge and 
precipitous glen follow each other like the deep hol- 
lows and crested waves of ocean, under the driving 
force of the storm. It was a relief when a rough 
ravine opened its winding gallery on the line of their 
path. They reached at length the maritime defile of 
El Rincon, or Punto Gordo, where a mountain bluff 
shoulders its way boldly to the sea, leaving for fifteen 
miles only a narrow line of broken coast, lashed at 
high tide, and in the gale, by the foaming surf The 
sun was on the wave of the Pacific, when they issued 
from the Rincon ; and twilight still lingered when they 
reached the hospitable rancho of Don Thomas Rob- 
bins — one hundred and twenty-five miles from los 
Angeles. The only limb in the company which 
seemed to complain of fatigue was the right arm of 
Jacob, incessantly exercised in lashing the loose 
horses to the track, and lassoing the relays. None of 
the horses were shod — an iron contrivance unknown 
here, except among a few Americans. The gait 
through the day had been a hand-gallop, relieved at 
short intervals by a light trot. Here the party rested 
for the night, while the horses gathered their food 
from the young grass which spread its tender ver- 
dure on the field. 

Another morning had thrown its splendors on the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 379 

forest when the party waved their adieu to their hos- 
pitable host, and were under way. Their path lay 
over the spurs of the Santa Barbara mountains ; and 
close to that steep ridge, where the California battal- 
ion, under Col. Fremont, encountered on the 25th 
Dec, 1846, a blinding storm, which still throws its 
sleet and hail through the dreams of those hardy men. 
Such was its overpowering force, that more than a 
hundred of their horses dropped down under their 
saddles. Their bleaching bones still glimmering in 
the gorges, and hanging on the cliffs, are the ghastly 
memorials of its terrific violence. None but they, 
who were of their number, can tell what that battal- 
ion suffered. The object of that campaign accom- 
plished, and the conquest of California secured, the 
colonel, with his friend and servant, was now on his 
brief return. Their path continued over the flukes 
and around the bluffs of the coast mountains, relieved 
at intervals by the less rugged slopes and more level 
lines of the Canada. The hand-gallop and light trot 
of their spirited animals brought them, at set of sun, 
to the rancho of their friend, Capt. Dana, where they 
supped, and then proceeding on to San Luis Obispo, 
reached the house of Don Jesiise, the colonel's com- 
panion, at nine o'clock in the evening — one hundred 
and thirty-five miles from the place where they broke 
cimp in the morning ! 

The arrival of Col. Fremont having got wind, the 
rancherosj of San Luis were on an early stir, deter- 
mined to detain him. All crowded to his quarters 

\ 



380 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

with their gratulations, and the tender of a splendid 
entertainment, but his time was too pressing : still 
escape was impossible, till a sumptuous breakfast had 
been served, and popular enthusiasm had expressed 
its warm regard. This gratitude and esteem were 
the result of that humane construction of mihtary 
law, which had spared the forfeited lives of the leaders 
in the recent insurrectionary war. It was eleven 
o'clock in the morning before the colonel and his 
attendants were in the saddle. Their tired horses 
had been left, and eisjht fresh ones taken in their 
places, while their party had been increased by the 
addition of a California boy, in the capacity of vaquero. 
Their path still lay through a wild broken country, 
where primeval forests frowned, and the mountain 
torrent dashed the tide of its strength. At eight in 
the evening they reached the gloomy base of the 
steep range which guards the head waters of the 
Salinas or Benaventura, seventy miles from f^an 
Luis. Here Don Jesiise, who had been up the greater 
part of the night previous, with his famil}^Mid friends, 
proposed a few hours rest. As the pl|j|h|Was the 
favorite haunt of marauding Indians, tiie party for 
safety during their repose, turned off the track, which 
ran nearer the coast than the usual rout, and issuing 
through a Canada into a thick wood, rolled down in 
their serapes, with their saddles for their ' " -- r 
while then' horses were put to grass at^a si 
tance, with the Spanish boy in the saddle tokr*]' 
watch. Sleep once commenced, was too >iweet tr b<? 



THEEti YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 381 

easily given up; midnight had passed when the party 
were roused from their slumbers by an estampedo 
among their horses, and the loud calls of the watch 
boy. The cause of the alarm proved not to be In- 
dians, but gray bears, which infest this wild pass. It 
was here that Col. Fremont with thirty-five of his 
men, in the summer preceding, fell in with several 
large bands of these ferocious fellows, who appeared 
to have posted themselves here to dispute the path. 
An attack was ordered, and thirteen of their grim 
file were left dead on the field. Such is their ac- 
knowledged strength and towering rage, when as- 
saulted, the bravest hunters, when outnumbered, 
generally give them a wide berth. When it was 
discovered that they had occasioned this midnight 
stampede, the first impulse was to attack them ; but 
Don Jesiise, who understood their habits and weak 
points, discouraged the idea, stating that " people 
gente can scare bears," and with that gave a succes- 
sion of loud halloos, at which the bears commenced 
their retreat. The horses by good fortune were re- 
covered, a fire kindled, and by break of day, the party 
had finished their breakfast, and were again in the 
saddle. ' Their path, issuing from the gloomy forests 
of the S^ledad, skirted the coast range, and crossed 
the plain of the Salinas to Monterey, where they 
arrived three hours to set of sun, and ninety miles 
from their Jast camping-tree. 

The prir.cipal citizens of Monterey, as soon as the 
an'ival of Col. Fremont was announced, assembled at 



382 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

the office of the alcalde, and passed resolutions in- 
viting him to a public dinner ; but the urgency of his 
immediate return obliged him to forego the proffered 
honor. At four o'clock in the afternoon of the day 
succeeding that of their arrival, the party were ready 
to start on their return. The two horses rode by the 
colonel from San Luis Obispo, were a present to him 
from Don Jesuse, who now desired him to make an 
experiment with the abilities of one of them. They 
were brothers, one a year younger than the other, 
both the same color — cinnamon — and hence called el 
canelo, or los canelos. The elder was taken for the 
trial, and lead off gallantly as the party struck the 
plain which stretches towards the Salinas. A more 
graceful horse, and one more deftly mounted, I have 
never seen. The eyes of the gathered crowd follow- 
ed them till they disappeared in the shadows of the 
distant hills. Forty miles on the hand-j ill •]>. and 
they camped for the night. Another day dawned,, 
and the elder canelo was again under the saddle of 
Col. Fremont, and for ninety miles carried h^n with^ 
out change, and without apparent fatigue, 
still thirty miles to San Luis, where t}^"v ^Tr^,-,. ,,^ ^,,,^^ 
the night, and Don Jesuse insisted ti. !o could 

easily perform it, and so said the horse iii i ited 

look and action. But the colonel would no\ j^ut him 
to the trial ; and shifting the saddle '<<» +^ ^ younger 
brother, the elder was turned loose to remain- 

ing thirty mile-; without a rider. He irjimediately 
took the lead, and kept it the whole distance, entering 



I 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 383 

San Luis on a sweeping gallop, and neighing with 
exultation on his return to his native pastures. His 
younger brother, with, equal spirit, kept the lead of 
the horses under the saddle, bearing on his bit, and 
requiring the constant check of his rider. The whole 
eight horses made their one hundred and twenty miles 
each in this day's ride, after having performed forty 
the evening before. The elder cinnamon, who had 
taken his rider through the forty, carried him ninety 
miles further to-day, and would undoubtedly have 
taken him through the remaining thirty miles had 
Col. Fremont continued him under the saddle. 

After a detention of half a day at San Luis Obispo 
by a rain-storm, the party resumed the horses they 
had left there, and which took them back to los An- 
geles in the same time they had brought them up. 
Thus making their five hundred miles each in four 
days, with the interval of repose occupied in the ride 
from San Luis to Monterey and back. In this whole 
journey from los Angeles to Monterey and back — 
making eight hundred and forty miles — the party had 
actually but one relay of fresh horses : the time on 
the road w^as about seventy-six hours. The path 
through the entire route lies through a wild broken 
country, over ridges, down gorges, around bluffs, and 
through gloomy defiles, where a travefler, unused 
to these mountains, would often deem even the slow 
trot impracticable. The only food which the horses 
had, except a few quarts of barley at Monterey, was 
the grass on the road ; though the trained and do- 



384 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

mesticated horses, like the canelos, will eat or drink 
almost every thing which their master uses. They 
will take from his caressing hand bread, fruits,. sugar, 
coffee ; and, like the Persian horse, will not refuse a 
bumper of wine. They obey with gentlest docility 
his slightest intimation ; a swing of his hand, or a tap 
of his whip on the saddle, will spring them into in- 
stant action, while the check of a thread-rein on the 
Spanish bit will bring them to a dead stand ; and yet 
in these sudden stops, when rushing at the top of 
their speed, they manage not to jostle their rider, or 
throw him forward. They go where their master 
directs, whether it be a leap on the foe, up a flight of 
stairs, or over a chasm. But this is true only of the 
conduct and behavior of those horses trained like the 
canelos, who vindicate, in the mountain glens of Cal- 
ifornia, their Arabian origin. They are all grace, 
fleetness, muscle, and fire ; gentle as the lamb, lively 
as the antelope, and fearless as the lion. 

MARINE REMAINS. 

The hills around Monterey are full of marine shells. 
You can turn them out wherever you drive your 
spade into the ground. The Indians dig and burn 
them for lime, which is used in whitewashing the 
adobe walls of houses, and which makes them glim- 
mer in the sun like banks of freshly-driven snow. It 
has not sufficient strength for the mason, but no other 
was in use when we landed at Monterey. The first 
regular lime-kiln was burnt by me for the town-hall. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 385 

1 found the stone about ten miles from Monterey, 
and the Hme it produced of a superior quality. When 
the lime, hair, lath, and sand were brought together, 
no little curiosity was awakened by the heterogeneous 
mass, and the admiration was equally apparent when 
each took its place and performed its part in the 
plaster and hard finish of the wall and ceiling. Thou- 
sands came to see the work ; it was the lion of the 
day. But the curiosity of the geologist would turn 
from this to the fossil oyster-shells in the hills ; and 
when he has exhausted those on the coast, let him 
turn inland, and he will find on the mountains, two 
hundred miles from the sea, and on elevations of a 
thousand feet, the same marine productions ; and not 
only these, but the skeleton of a whale almost entire. 
How came that monster up there, high and dry, glim- 
mering like the pale skeleton of a huge cloud between 
us and the moon ? Did the central fire which threw 
up the mountain ridge, throw him up on its crest ? 
How astonished he must have been to find himself 
up there, blowing off steam among volcanoes and 
comets ! Now let our savans quit their cockle-shells 
and petrified herring, and tell us about that whale. 
They will find him near the rancho of Robert Liver- 
more, on a mountain which overlooks the great val- 
ley of the San Joaquin. There he reposes in grim 
majesty, while the winds of ages pour through his 
bleaching bones their hollow dirge. 
33 



386 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 



THE TWO CLASSES OF EMIGRANTS. 

The emigrants to California are composed of two 
classes — those who come to live by their wits, and 
those who come to accumulate by their work. The 
wit capitalists will find dupes for a time — small fish 
in shallow waters — but a huge roller will soon heave 
them all high and dry ! This is the last country to 
which a man should come, who is above or beneath 
the exercise of his muscles. Every object he meets 
addresses him in the admonitory language which 
gleams in the motto of the Arkansas bowie-knife — 
" root, hog, or die." But then he has this encourage- 
ment : he can root almost anywhere, but root he 
must. They who come relying on their physical 
forces, and who are largely endowed with the organs 
of perseverance, will succeed. But if they stay too 
long in San Francisco, their enthusiasm will have an 
ague-fit, and their golden dream turn to sleet and hail. 
They should hasten through and dash at once into 
their scene of labor ; nor should they expect success 
without corresponding eflTorts ; if fortune favors them 
to-day, she will disappoint them to-morrow ; her fa- 
vors and frowns fall with marvellous caprice ; the 
digger must be above the one and independent of the 
other ; he must rely upon his own resources ; and 
upon his fidelity to one unchanged and unchangeable 
purpose. He comes here to get gold, not in pounds 
or ounces, but in grains ; his most instructive lesson 
will be by the side of the ant-hill. There he sees a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 387 

little industrious fellow, foregoing the pastimes of 
other insects, and bringing another grain to his heap ; 
working on with right good heart through the day, 
and sometimes taking advantage of the moon, and 
plying his task through the luminous night. Let him 
watch that ant, and go and do likewise, if he would 
return from California with a fortune. I don't rec- 
ommend him to come here and convert himself into 
a pismire for gold ; but if he will come, the more he 
has of the habits of that little groundling the better. 

CALIFORNIA ON CHARACTER. 

Life in California impresses new features on old 
characters, as a fresh mintage on antiquated coins. 
The man whose prudence in the States never forsakes 
him, and whose practical maxim is, " a bird in the 
hand is worth two in the bush," will here throw all 
his birds into the bushes, seemingly for the mere ex- 
citement of catching them again. He finds himself 
in an atmosphere so strongly stirred and stirring, that 
he must whirl with it, and soon enjoys the strong 
eddy almost as much as the still pool. He may hang 
perhaps a moment on the verge of a cataract, but if 
it spreads below to a tranquil lake, down he goes, 
and emerges from the boiling gulf calm and confident 
as if lord of the glittering trident. Or he may have 
been, while in the States, remarked for his parsimony, 
pinching every cent as it dropped into the contribu- 
tion-box as if there was a spasm between his avarice 
and alms. But in Cahfornia that cent so awfully 



388 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

pinched soon takes the shape of a doubloon, and 
sHdes from his hand too easily to leave even the odor 
of its value behind. I have known five men, who 
never contributed a dollar in the States for the sup- 
port of a clergyman, subscribe here five hundred dol- 
lars each per annum, merely to encourage, as they 
termed it, " a good sort of a thing in the community." 
I have seen a miser, who would have sold a hob-nail 
from his heel for old iron, in bartering off his saddle 
throw in the horse ; and then exchange a lump of per- 
fectly pure gold for one half quartz, merely because it 
struck his fancy ! Such are some of the anomalies in 
character which a life in California produces. If you 
doubt it, make the experiment, and you will soon find 
your own heart, though gnarled as a knot, cracking 
open, and turning inside out like a kernel of parched 
corn. 

HEADS AND TAILS. 

My friend William Blackburn, alcalde of Santd 
Cruz, often hits upon a method of punishing a trans- 
gressor, which has some claims to originality as well 
as justice. A young man was brought before him, 
charged with having sheared, close to the stump, the 
sweeping tail of another's horse. The evidence of 
the nefarious act, and of the prisoner's guilt, was con- 
clusive. The alcalde sent for a barber, ordered the 
offender to be seated, and directed the tonsor to shear 
and shave him clean of his dark flowing locks and 
curling moustache, in which his pride and vanity lay. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 389 

This was hardly done, when Mr. B, counsel for the 
prisoner entered, and moved an arrest of judgment. 
" Oh, yes," said the alcalde, " as the shears and razor 
have done their work, judgment may now rest." 
" And under what law," inquired the learned counsel, 
" has this penalty been inflicted ?" " Under the Mo- 
saic," replied the alcalde : " that good old rule — eye 
for eye, tooth for tooth, hair for hair." " But," said 
the biblical jurist, " that was the law of the Old Tes 
tament, which has been abrogated in the New." "But 
we are still living," returned the alcalde, " under the 
old dispensation, and must continue there till Con- 
gress shall sanction a new order of things." " Well, 
well," continued the counsel, "old dispensation or 
new, the penalty was too severe — a man's head against 
a horse's tail !" " That is not the question," rejoined 
the alcalde : " it is the hair on the one against the 
hair on the other ; now as there are forty fiddles to 
one wig in California, the inference is just, that horse- 
hair of the two is in most demand, and that the 
greatest sufferer in this case is still the owner of the 
steed." " But, then," murmured the ingenious coun- 
sel, "you should consider the young man's pride." 
" Yes, yes," responded the alcalde, " I considered all 
that, and considered too the stump of that horse's 
tail, and the just pride of his owner. Your client will 
recover his crop much sooner than the other, and will 
manage, I hope, to keep it free of the barber's de- 
partment in this court ;" and with this, client and 
counsel were dismissed. 

33* 



390 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 



SPANISH COURTESIES. 



The courtesies characteristic of the Spanish linger 
in CaHfornia, and seem, as you encounter them amid 
the less observant habits of the emigration, like gold- 
en-tinted leaves of Autumn, still trembling on their 
stems in the rushing verdure of Spring. They ex- 
hibit themselves in every phase of society and every 
walk of life. You encounter them in the church, in 
the fandango, at the bridal altar, and the hearse : they 
adorn youth, and take from age its chilling severity. 
They are trifles in themselves, but they refine social 
intercourse, and soften its alienations. They may 
seem to verge upon extremes, but even then they 
carry some sentiment with them, some sign of defer- 
ence to humanity. I received a cluster of wild- 
flowers from a lady, with a note in pure Castilian, 
and bearing in the subscription the initials of the 
words, which rudely translated mean, " I kiss your 
hand." One might have felt tempted to write her 
back — 

Thou need'st not, lady, stoop so low 

To print the gentle kiss : 
Can hands return what lips bestow, 

Or blush to show their bliss ? 



391 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE TEAGEDY AT SAN MIGUEL. — COURT AND CULPRITS. AGE AND CIRCUM- 
STANCES OF THOSE WHO SHOULD COME TO CALIFORNIA. — CONDITION OF 

THE PROFESSIONS. THE WRONGS OF CALIFORNIA. CLAIMS ON THE 

CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. ^JOURNALISTS. 

Retribution follows fast on the heels of crime in 
California. Two persons, a Hessian and Irishman, 
whom I had met in the Stanislaus, left the mines for 
the seaboard. On their way to Stockton, they fell in 
with two miners asleep under a tree, whom they 
murdered and robbed of their gold ; with this booty 
they hastened across the valley of the San Joaquin, 
and skirting the mountains to avoid all frequented 
paths, held their course south to La Solidad. Here 
they fell in with three deserters from the Pacific 
squadron, who joined them, and the whole party pro- 
ceeded south to San Miguel, where they quartered 
themselves for the night on the hospitality of Mr. 
Reade, an English ranchero of respectability and 
wealth. In the morning they took their departure, 
but had proceeded only a short distance, when it was 
agreed they should return and rob their host. During 
the ensuing night they rose on the household, con- 
si3ting of Mr. Reade, his wife, and three children, a 
1 nswoman with four children, and two Indian do- 



392 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

mestics, and murdered the whole ! Having rifled the 
money-chest of a large amount of gold dust, the blood- 
stained party renewed their flight south, and had 
reached a secluded cove in a bend of the sea, below 
Santa Barbara, where they were overtaken by a band 
of citizens, who had tracked them from the neighbor- 
hood of San Miguel. The fugitives were armed, and 
avowed their determination to shoot down any person 
w^ho should attempt to apprehend them. The citizens, 
though few, and badly provided with weapons, were 
resolute and determined. A desperate conflict ensued, 
in which one of the felons was shot dead; another, hav- 
ing discharged the last barrel of his revolver, jumped 
into the sea and was drowned ; the remaining three 
were at length disarmed and secured. Of the citizens 
several were wounded, and one — the father of a be- 
loved family — lay a corpse ! The next morning, as 
there was no alcalde in the vicinity, the three prison- 
ers were brought before a temporary court organized 
for the purpose, wherein twelve good and lawful men 
took oath to render judgment according to conscience. 
Each person when brought to the bar told his own 
story, inextricably involving his associates in the 
guilt of deliberate murder, and who, in their turn, 
wove the same terrible web about him. Of their guilt, 
though convicted without the testimony of an im- 
partial witness,' no doubt remained to disturb the 
convictions of the court. They were sentenced to 
death, and before the sun went down were in their 
graves ! The whole five were buried among the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 393 

Stern rocks which frown on the sea, and which seem 
as if there to stay the tide of crime, as well as the 
storms of ocean. What a tragedy of depravity and 
despair ! Thirteen innocent persons — men, women, 
and children — swept in an unsuspecting moment from 
life ; and the five perpetrators of the crime, crushed 
into a hurried grave, under the avenging arm of jus- 
tice ! There is a spirit in California that will rightly 
dispose of the murderer ; it may at times be hasty, 
and too little observant of the forms of law, but it 
reaches its object ; it leaves the guilty no escape 
through the defects of an indictment, the ingenuity 
of counsel, or the clemency of the executive. It 
plants itself on the ground that the first duty society 
owes itself, is to protect its members ; and to secure 
this object, it throws around the sanctity of life, the 
defenses found in the terrors of death. The grave is 
the prison which God has sunk in the path of the 
murderer. Let not man attempt to bridge it. 

WHO SHOULD STAY AND WHO COME. 

The indiscretion with which so many thousands 
are rushing to California will be a source of regret to 
them, and of sorrow to their friends. Not one in twen- 
ty will bring back a fortune, and not more than one in 
ten secure the means of defraying the expenses of his 
return. I speak now of those whose plans and efforts 
are confined to the mines, and who rely on the pro- 
ceeds of their manual labor : when they nave de- 
frayed the expenses incident to their position, liqui- 



394 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

dated all demands for food, clothing, and implements 
for the year, their yellow heap will dwindle to a point. 
This might serve as the nucleus of operations which 
are to extend through a series of years ; but as the 
result of the enterprise, involving privation and hard- 
ship, is a failure, no man should come to California 
under the impression that he can in a few months 
pick a fortune out of its mines. He may here and 
there light on a more productive deposit, but the 
chances are a hundred to one that his gains will be 
slenderly and laboriously acquired. He is made 
giddy with the reports of sudden wealth ; these are 
the rare prizes, while the silence of the grave hangs 
over the multitudinous blanks. 

A young man endowed with a vigorous constitu- 
tion, and who possesses sterling habits of sobriety and 
application, and who has no dependencies at home, 
can do well in California. But he should come with 
the resolute purpose of remaining here eight or ten 
years, and with a spirit that can throw its unrelaxed 
energies into any enterprise which the progress of 
the country may develop. He must identify him- 
self for the time being with all the great interests 
which absorb attention, and quicken labor. If he has 
not the enterprise and force of purpose which this 
requires, he should remain at home. There is an- 
other class of persons whom domestic obligations 
and motives of prudence should dissuade from a Cali- 
fornia adventure. It is blind folly in a man, who has 
a family dependent on him for a support, to exhaust 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 395 

the little means, which previous industry and frugality 
have left, in defraying the expenses of a passage here, 
with the vague hope that in a year or two he can re- 
turn with an ample competence. I respect his feel- 
ings and motives, but honorable intentions cannot 
save him from disappointment. When the expenses 
which the most rigid economy could not avoid have 
been paid, and the obligations connected with the 
support of his family at home have been discharged, 
the results of his enterprise will leave him poor. He 
may never tell you of broken hopes and a shattered 
constitution, but his hearth-stone is strewn with their 
pale, admonitory fragments. Let me persuade those 
whom God has blessed with a faithful wife and in- 
teresting family, not to abandon these objects of affec- 
tion for the gold mines of California. Do not come 
out here under the delusive belief that you can in a 
few months, or a brief year, on the proceeds of the 
mattock and bowl, accumulate a fortune. This has 
rarely if ever been done, even where the deposits 
were first disturbed by the more fortunate adven- 
turer. If it could not be done in the green tree, 
what are you to expect in the dry ? If when the 
placers were fresh, many gathered but little more than 
sufficient to meet their current wants, what can you 
anticipate when they are measurably exhausted ? 
They who inflame your imagination with tales of in- 
exhaustible deposits which only wait your spade and 
wash-bowl, abuse your credulity, and dishonor their 
own claims to trutri. 



396 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 



THE PROFESSIONS AND PURSUITS. 

All the secular professions and more privileged or 
prescribed pursuits in California are crowded to over- 
flowing. Physicians are without patients ; lawyers 
without clients ; surveyors .without lands ; hydro- 
graphers without harbors ; actors without audiences ; 
painters without pupils ; financiers without funds ; 
minters without metals ; printers without presses ; 
hunters without hounds, and fiddlers without fools. 
And all these must take to the plough, the pickaxe, 
and spade. Even California, with all her treasured 
hills and streams, fell under that primal malediction 
which threw its death-shade on the infant world. It 
is as true here as amonej the iiranite rocks of New 
England — in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 
bread. Let none think to escape this labor-destiny 
here ; it environs the globe, and binds every nation 
and tribe in its inexorable folds. 

The merchant, whose shrewdness avails him eve- 
rywhere else, will often be wrecked here. The mar- 
kets of a single month have all the phases of its fickle 
moon. The slender crescent waxes into the circle ; 
and the full orb passes under a total eclipse. The 
man that figured on its front is gone, and with him 
the hopes of the millionaire. The bullfrog in his 
croaking pond, and the owl in his hooting tree, re- 
main ; but the speculator, like a ghost at the glimmer 
of day, hath fled. You can only dimly remember the 
phantom's shape and where he walked, and half doubt 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 397 

the dream in which he denizened and dissolved from 
sight. But still the gulf of vision swarms with reali- 
ties — with beings where the play of life and death, 
joy and grief, wealth and want, are the portion of the 
living and the legacy of the dead. California is a 
continent swelling between the hopes of the future 
and the wrecks of the past; but like all other conti- 
nents, will be visited with the alternation of day and 
night. The cloud will travel where the sunbeam 
hath been. 

WRONGS OF CALIFORNIA. 

The neglect and wrongs of California will yet find 
a tongue. From the day the United States flag was 
raised in this country, she has been the victim of the 
most unrelenting oppression. Her farmers were rob- 
bed of their stock to meet the exigences of war ; and 
her emigrants forced into the field to maintain the 
conquest. Through the exactions of the custom- 
house the comforts and necessaries of life were op- 
pressively taxed. No article of food or raiment could 
escape this forced contribution ; it reached the plough 
of the farmer, the anvil of the smith ; the blanket 
that protected your person, the salt that seasoned 
your food, the shingle that roofed your cabin, and 
the nail that bound your coffin. Even the light of 
heaven paid its contribution in its windowed tariff. 
And who were the persons on whom these extortions 
fell ? Citizens whom the government had promised 
to relieve of taxation, and emigrants who had exhaust- 

34 



398 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

ed their last means in reaching their new abode ! 
There was treachery and tyranny combined in the 
treatment which they received. A less provocation 
sunk the dutied tea in the harbor of Boston, and sev- 
ered the indignant colonies from the British crown. 

Nor does this gross injustice stop here : this op- 
pressive tax was enforced at a time when there was 
but little specie in the country ; the whole circulating 
medium was absorbed in its unrighteous demands. 
Nor was the case materially relieved by the discovery 
of gold ; this precious ore was extorted at ten dollars 
the ounce, and forfeited at that arbitrary valuation if 
not redeemed within a given time. There was no 
specie by which it could be redeemed, and it went to 
the clutches of the government at ten dollars, when 
its real value at our mints is eighteen dollars. If this 
be not robbery, will some one define what that word 
means ? It was worse than robbery — it was swin- 
dling under the color of law. All this has been car- 
ried on against a community without a representation 
in our national legislature, and without any civil ben- 
efits in return. Not even a light-house rose to relieve 
its onerous injustice. Hundreds of thousands, not to 
say millions thus extorted, are now locked up in the 
sub-treasury chest at San Francisco. Every doub- 
loon, dollar, and dime that reaches the country is 
forced under that inexorable key. In this absorption 
of the circulating medium, commercial loans can be 
effected only on ruinous rates of interest, and the civil 
government itself is bankrupt. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 399 

Every dollar of these ill-gotten gains should be 
placed forthwith at the disposal of the state of Cali- 
fornia. It belongs to her ; it never was the property 
of the United States under any law of Congress. It 
has been exacted under executive circulars, under 
the naked dictates of arbitrary power. I blame not 
the revenue functionaries of the general government 
in California ; they were bound by the orders and in- 
structions which they received ; the responsibility 
rests nearer home : it rests with those who have 
usurped and exercised powers not conferred by the 
Constitution, or the consent of the American people. 
Nor do these aggressions and wrongs stop here. Who 
has authorized a captain of U. S. dragoons to drive, 
at the point of his flashing glaive, peaceful citizens 
from their gardens and dwellings on the bay of San 
Francisco, under the pretext of a government reserva- 
tion, and then to farm out those grounds under a ten 
years' lease ? Who has conferred this impudent 
stretch of authority, and this private monopoly of the 
public domain ? Let the citizens thus trampled upon 
maintain their right, even with their rifles, till they 
can be made the proper subjects of judicial investiga- 
tion or legislative action. 

CLAIMS ON THE CHRISTIAN. 

With the Christian community California has higher 
claims than those which glitter in her mines. The 
moral elements which now drift over her streams and 
treasured rocks will ere long settle down into abiding 



400 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

forms. The impalpable will become the real, and the 
unsubstantial assume a local habitation and a name. 
Shall these permanent shapes, into which society is 
to be cast, take their plastic features from the im- 
press of blind accident and skeptical apathy, or the 
moulding hand of reUgion? These primal forms 
must remain and wear for ages the traces of their de- 
formity or beauty, their guilty insignificance or moral 
grandeur. Through them circulates your own life- 
blood ; in them is bound up the hopes of an empire. 
Not only the destiny of California is suspended on 
the issue, but the fate of all the republics which cheer 
the shores of the Pacific. The same treason to reli- 
gion which wrecks the institutions of this country, 
will sap the foundations of a thousand other glorified 
shrines. It is for you, Christian brethren, to prevent 
such a disaster ; it is for you to pour into California 
an unremitted tide of holy light. The Bible must 
throw its sacred radiance around every hearth, over 
every stream, through every mountain glen. The 
voice of the heralds of heavenly love must be echoed 
from every cliff and chasm and forest sanctuary. 
On you devolves this mission of Christian fidelity. 
It is for your faith and philanthropy to say what 
California shall be when her swelling population shall 
burst the bounds of her domain. You can write her 
hopes in ashes, or stars that shall never set. Every 
school-book and Bible you throw among her hills 
will be a source of penetrating and pervading lights 
when the torch of the caverned miner has gone out 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 401 

The images which you impress on her gold, age will 
efface ; but the insignia of truth, stamped into her 
ardent heart, will survive the touch of time, and 
gleam bright in the night of the grave. 

PROPHETIC SHADOWS AND JOURNALISTS. 

Coming events cast their shadows before. When 
Com. Jones, several years since, captured Monterey, 
no political seer discovered in the event the precursor 
of an actual, permanent possession. No flag waved 
on the horoscope save the Mexican; no thunder 
broke on the ear of the augur, except what disturbed 
the wrong quarter of the heaven ; and even the birds, 
which carried the fate of nations in their sounding 
beaks, flew in a wrong direction. But the first occu- 
pation, though it came and went as a shadow, was an 
omen, which has now become a reality — a great event- 
ful fact in the history of the age. The commodore, 
who struck this first uncertain blow, is now here en- 
trusted with the defence of the new acquisition. His 
spirit of intelligence and enterprise is making itselt 
felt in every department, that justly faUs within the 
prerogatives of a commander-in-chief. 

There are a multitude of topics connected with the 
wild life and new condition of affairs in California, 
which must escape the pen of any one journalist. 
Some of them are touched with vivid force in the 
graphic pictures of " El Dorado," others are sketched 
with lively effect in the pages of "Los Gringos," 
while California as she was, before gold had cankered 

34* 



402 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

her barbaric bliss, is thrown wildly on our vision, b^ 
the author of " Two Years Before the Mast." Her 
geography, the habits of her citizens, and her re- 
sources, when little known beyond the furtive glances 
of the coaster, are faithfully delineated in the pioneer 
pages of Col. Fremont, Capt. Wilkes, and Mr. Robin- 
son. Every traveller can find in California some 
new untouched feature for a sketch. They unroll 
themselves on the eye at every glance. With the 
reader they are rather sources of wonder and amuse- 
ment, than solid advantage. Our globe was invested 
with no claims to utility till it had emerged from 
chaos ; then verdure clothed its hills and vales ; then 
flowing streams made vocal the forest aisles ; then 
rolled the anthem of the morning star. 



403 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE GOLD-BEAHING QUARTZ. THEIR LOCALITY. RICHNESS AND EXTENT. 

SPECIMENS AND DOUBTFUL CONCLUSIONS. THE SUITABLE MACHINERY 

TO BE USED IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE COURT OK ADMIRALTY AT MON- 
TEREY. ITS ORGANIZATION AND JURISDICTION. THE CASES DETER- 
MINED. SALE OF THE PRIZES. CONVENTION AND CONSTITUTION OF 

CALIFORNIA. DIFFICULTIES AND COMPROMISES. SPIRIT OF THE IN- 
STRUMENT. 

The surface gold in California will in a few years 
be measurably exhausted ; the occasional discovery 
of new deposits cannot long postpone such a result ; 
nor will it be delayed for any great number of years, 
by any more scientific and thorough method of secur- 
ing the treasure. California will prove no exception 
in these respects to other sections of the globe where 
surface gold has been found. The great question is, 
will her mountains be exhausted with her streams and 
valleys ? Will her rock gold give out with her allu- 
vial deposits ? The gold-bearing quartz is the sheet- 
anchor at which the whole argosy rides ; if this parts, 
your golden craft goes to fragments. 

When an old Sonoranian told me in the mines that 
the quartz swetted out the gold, all the young savans 
around laughed at the old man's stupidity ; and I must 
say the perspiration part of the business rather 



404 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

staggered my credulity, which has some compass, 
where there are no laws to guide one. But the old 
digger was nearer the truth than many who have more 
felicitous terms in which to express their theories. 
Though the gold may not ooze from the quartz as 
water drips from a rock, yet it is there, and often 
beads from the surface like a tear that has lost its 
way among the dimples of a lady's cheek. In other 
instances it shows itself only in fine veins ; and in 
others still, is w^holly concealed from the naked eye, 
and even eludes the optical instrument ; but when 
reduced to powder with the quartz, flies to the em- 
brace of quicksilver, and takes a virgin shape, mas- 
sive and rich. The specimens of quartz which have 
been subjected to experiment, have yielded from one 
to three dollars the pound. These specimens were 
gathered at diflerent points, in the foot range of the 
Sierra Nevada, and are deemed only a fair average 
of the yield that may be derived from the quartz. 

The gold rocks of Georgia and Virginia yield, on 
an average, less than half a cent to the pound, and 
yet the profits are suflicient to justify deep mining. 
What then must be the profits of working a rock 
which lies near the surface, and which yields over a 
dollar to the pound ! The result staggers credulity ; 
and we seek a refuge from the weakness of faith in 
the more reasonable persuasion, that the specimens 
tested are richer than the average of the veins and 
quarries which remain. And yet the poorest speci- 
men, which the casual blow of the sledo;e has knocked 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 405 

from the sunlit peak, has seemingly more gold in its 
shadow, than the rock unhouseled from its mine in 
Virginia beneath forty fathoms of darkness. The 
only real defence for our incredulity lies in the pre- 
sumption, that the gold-bearing quartz, like the sur- 
face deposits, has its confined localities. And yet 
Mr. Wright, our member of Congress from Califor- 
nia, who has traversed the slopes of the Sierra, col- 
lected more specimens, and made more experiments 
than any other individual, is sanguine in the opinion 
that the gold-bearing quartz occupies a broad contin- 
uous vein through the entire extent of the foot range : 
and in this opinion the Hon. T. Butler King, in his 
lucid report, coincides. Still such a wide departure 
in nature from all her known laws, or capricious im- 
pulses, in the distribution of gold, leaps beyond my 
belief In no other part of her wide domain has she 
deposited in the quartz rock a proportion of gold more 
than sufficient barely to compensate the hardy miner : 
and it is difficult to believe, that with all her affection 
for California, she has been so prodigal of her gifts. 
It surpasses the rainbow-inwoven coat bestowed by 
the partial love of the patriarch on his favorite child. 
When a simple swain saw a necromancer break a 
cocoanut shell and let fly half a dozen canary birds, 
he remarked, there was no doubt the young birds 
were hatched in the cocoanut ; but what puzzled him 
was, to know how the old bird could get in to lay 
the eggs. But a deeper puzzle wdth me is, that each 
and every cocoanut on this California tree, should 



406 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

have a nest of canaries in it. And yet, with all these 
dogged doubts and dismal dissuasives, were I going to 
invest in California speculations, my inklings would 
turn strongly to quartz and stampers. 

But I would send out no machinery which should 
have a piece in it weighing over seventy or eighty 
pounds : no other can be taken through the gorges, 
and over the acclivities to the lofty steeps where the 
quartz exists. The machinery which can be readily 
taken to the mines in Virginia, would cost a fortune 
in its transportation to the proper localities in Cali- 
fornia. The heaviest capitalist would find himself 
swamped before he got to work. Every piece must 
be taken over elevations where a man can hardly 
draw himself up, and where his life is often suspended 
on the strength of the fibres which twine the bush to 
the fissures of the rock. It should be so light as to 
render its removal to any new and more productive 
locality practicable, without involving a ruinous ex- 
pense. A machine wielding the force of one man, 
and stamping on the spot, will be more productive 
than a forty-horse power working at a distance. All 
the transportation must be done by hand, for no ani- 
mal can subsist among the steeps where the quartz 
prevail. Watch the eagle as he soars to his high cliff 
with a writhing snake in his beak, and then seize 
your Hght machinery and pursue his track. But, 
chained to a heavy engine, you would make about as 
much progress as that mountain bird with his talons 
driven into the back of a mastodon or whale. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 407 

COURT OF ADMIRALTY. 

There were seven prize cases introduced into the 
court of admiralty at Monterey, on which condemna- 
tion and sale of the property libelled ensued. They 
were all clearly cases of legal capture, and came un- 
der the well-established rule of international law, that 
the hostile character attaches to the commerce of the 
neutral domiciled in the enemy's country. This rule 
is enforced by every consideration of sound policy 
and national justice. If the flag of the neutral can 
protect the property over which it waves, the entire 
commerce of the belligerent might assume this neu- 
tral garb, and be as safe in time of war as peace. 
To prevent such an abuse, the comit}' of nations has 
conceded the general principle, that all commerce 
flowing to or emanating from a mercantile house, 
established in the enemy's country, shall be deemed 
hostile, and be held liable to seizure. 

A much more difficult question arose connected 
with the competency of the court. Its organization 
arose out of the exigences of war ; the alternative lay 
between a recognition of its jurisdiction, and the ex- 
treme right of the belligerent to burn and sink his 
captures. Congress, in a declaration of war, vir- 
tually invests the executive with authority to prose- 
cute it, and secure the ends for which it has been 
waged. He is necessarily entrusted with extraordi- 
nary discretion and corresponding powers ; when, in 
the due prosecution of these measures, he finds himself 



408 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

borne beyond their statutory provisions, and sur- 
rounded by exigences, lying at the time perhaps be- 
yond the purview of legislative enactment, he must 
either forego the objects which animated the acts of 
the national legislature, or temporarily assume the 
responsibility which the crisis demands. He must 
authorize the maintenance of civil government in 
territories acquired by our arms, and judicial proceed- 
ings in cases of capture on the high seas, which can- 
not be brought within the jurisdiction of our estab- 
lished courts. 

Nor is there any thing in such judicial proceedings 
which trenches upon the laws of nations ; these laws 
never assume the right to define the powers vested 
in the executive of a realm. They claim no authority 
to bring into court the constitutional prerogatives of a 
prince or of the president of a republic ; these are 
questions which appertain to the forms of government 
where the acts originate, where the power is exercised, 
and which must be disposed of as the wisdom of the 
nation may deem proper. It is enough that national 
law allows the captor at his peril to burn or sink his 
prize. Any executive measure to prevent such a 
precipitate result, and to subject the legality of the 
capture to the forms of a judicial investigation, is in 
accordance with every dictate of moral justice, and 
that strong sense of right which binds every civilized 
nation in a period of war as well as peace. Nor can 
the captor, from a want of jurisdiction in the court 
that determines his case, lose his prize. All the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 409 

claimant can do is to require him to appear before a 
court of competent authority, where the case must 
be examined and decided de novo on its merits. This 
great principle in maritime jurisprudence has been 
recognized and confirmed in the decision of the High 
Court of Admiralty in England. Half a century has 
rolled over that decision, but its authoritative foreoK" 
remains firm and unshaken as the base of the sea-girt 
isle. 

It devolved on the court at Monterey not only to 
determine the prize cases submitted, but to assume 
an onerous responsibility in the disposal of the prop- 
erty libelled and condemned. The cargo of one of 
these prizes consisted of a large amount of cotton, 
paper, and iron, destined to a Mexican market, and for 
which there was no adequate demand in California. 
The highest cash bid that could be procured at a sale 
duly notified, was $34,000. To this bid the property 
must be knocked down, or surrendered to a credit 
bid of 860,000, involving conditions for the benefit of 
the purchaser wholly inadmissible in law. In this 
perplexity I bid the ship and cargo in ; placed a faith- 
ful, competent agent and crew on board, and sent the 
whole to Mazatlan, which had become a port of entry. 
The result was, that after discharging all claims exist- 
ing against the property, I paid over to the Secretary 
of the Navy, as the net proceeds of the sales, the sum 
of $68,000, and stand credited with that amount on the 
books of the department. But this is rather a matter 
of personal service than a topic of public interest ; it 

35 



410 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

is, however, connected with official duty, and exhibits 
one of the many forms in which private responsibility 
may be tasked in saving from sacrifice property con- 
fided to its care. A fiiilure in such cases often brings 
ruin ; and even success may be obliged to seek its 
meagre remuneration through the slow forms of legis- 
lative relief. 

CONSTITUTION OF CALIFORNIA. 

The desH'es of the people of California for a civil 
government, suited to their new condition, at length 
found utterance at the ballot-box. The best informed 
and most sedate of her citizens were elected in their 
several districts, and commissioned to proceed to 
Monterey, for the purpose of drafting in concert the 
provisions of a constitution. Never were interests, 
habits, and associations more diverse than those rep- 
resented in this body. Unanimity could be reached 
only through the largest concessions. It was the 
conquerors and the conquered, the conservatives and 
the progressives ; they who owned the lands, and they 
who worked the mines, assembling to frame organic 
laws which should equally secure and bind the inter- 
ests of all. No cloud ever cast its shadow on equal 
incongruities grouped in cliffs and chasms, pinnacles 
and precipices, without having it broken into a thou- 
sand fragments. But the honest and patriotic pur- 
pose which animated the convention, raised that body 
above all national prejudice and local interests, and 
poured its spirit in blending power over its measures 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 411 

They had been commissioned to plan and perfect a 
constitution for California, and they were true to 
their trust. Day after day they labored at that event- 
ful instrument ; no passion, no prejudice disturbed 
their counsels : where opinions clashed, they were 
softened ; where interests jarred, they were harmo- 
nized ; where local feeling sought assertion, it was 
surrendered. Till at last, through this spirit of def- 
erence, compromise, and public concern, the instru- 
ment was finished. And now let us glance at its 
prominent features. 

This constitution is thoroughly democratic ; no 
prescriptive privileges, or invidious distinctions are 
recognized ; the interests of the great mass fill every 
provision. Political and social equality are its bases, 
while the rights of private judgment and individual 
conscience flow untrammelled through its spirit. It 
is the embodiment of the American mind, throwing 
its convictions, impulses, and aspirations into a tangi- 
ble, permanent shape. It is the creed of the thousands 
who wield the plough, the plane, the hammer, the 
trowel, and spade. It is the palladium of freedom, 
rolled in from the seaboard, and down from the 
mountains, and which has caught its echoes from 
every river, steep, and valley. It is the fraternal 
oath of a great people, uttered in the presence of God 
and the hearing of nations. Millions will turn their 
eyes to the fulfilment of its promises, when time and 
disaster have engulfed the monuments of their own 
splendor and strength. 



412 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

The 13th of October, 1849, will never fade from 
the annals of California. It was not the sun, circling 
up into a broad and brilliant heaven, that gave this 
morn its brightness : it was not the thunder of the 
Pacific on the sea-beaten strand, that gave the day its 
impressive force : it was not the long heavy roll of 
the artillery that most signalized the hour ; nor the 
harmony of the winds roUing their anthems from the 
steep forests that stirred most strongly the human 
heart. It was the silent signatures of the members 
of the convention to the constitution, which had been 
confided to their wisdom and patriotic fidelity. It 
was this last crowning act in an eventful moral enter- 
prise, having its source in the exigences of a great 
community. I wonder not the old pioneer of the 
Sacramento pronounced it the greatest day of his 
life ; I wonder not that the veteran " Hero of Con- 
treras" forgot the laurels gathered on that field of 
fame, in the higher and nobler honors showered upon 
him in this day's achievements. It was his steady 
purpose and fearless responsibility that threw into 
organized forms and practical results, the plans and 
purposes of the people of California. He will find 
his reward in the happiness and prosperity of a great 
state, over which the flag of the Union shall never 
cease to wave. The tide of Anglo-Saxon blood stops 
not here ; it is to circulate on other shores, con- 
tinents, and isles; its progress is blent with the steady 
triumphs of commerce, art, civilization, and religion. 
It will yet flow the globe round, and beat in every 



DECLARATION OF RIGHTS IN THE CON 



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THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 413 

nation's pulse ; morn will not blush, or twilight fade 
where its swelling wave is not ; its guiding-star is 
above the disasters in which the purposes of man are 
sphered. 

I regret my limits will not permit me to follow the 
Pacific squadron, under the command of Com. Shu- 
brick, to the Mexican coast. The capture and occu- 
pation of Mazatlan has hardly stirred a whisper in 
the trump of fame, which has poured out such strains 
on the other side of the continent. And yet this 
achievement of the commodore had in it a spirit of 
wisdom, resolution, and firmness that might emblazon 
a much loftier page than mine. When the history of 
the Mexican war shall be written, and the services 
of those who shared in its hardships and perils be 
duly recognized, Com. Shubrick, with the gallant offi- 
cers and brave men attached to his command, will 
receive a lasting meed of merited renown. It is now 
silently written in that international compact which 
terminated the apprehensions of one republic and 
sealed the triumphs of another. It was the waving 
of the stars and stripes on the strand of the Pacific 
which left a forlorn hope without a refuge, and 
coerced the terms of an honorable peace ; and long 
may that peace remain unbroken by the monster of 
discord and war. 

35* 



414 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

GLANCES AT TOWNS SPRUNG AND SPRINGING. SAN FRANCISCO. — BENICIA. 

SACRAMENTO CITY, — SUTTER. VERNON. BOSTON. STOCKTON. NEW 

YORK. ALVEZO. STANISLAUS. — SONORA. CRESCENT CITY. — TRINIDAD. 

The growth of towns in California is so rapid, that 
before you can sketch the last, a new one has sprung 
into existence. You go to work on this, and dash 
down a few features, when another glimmers on your 
vision, till at last you become like the English surgeon 
at the battle of Waterloo ; who began by bandaging 
individuals, but found the wounded brought in so fast 
he declared he must splinter by the regiment. 

San Francisco. — This town has thrice been laid 
in ashes ; but the young phoenix has risen on ampler 
wings than those which steadied the consumed form 
of its parent. It must be the great commercial em- 
porium of California in spite of competition, wind, 
and flame. Its direct connection with the sea, its 
magnificent bay and internal communications, have 
settled the question of its ultimate grandeur. It may 
be afflicted with grog-shops and gamblers, and the 
mania of speculation, but these are temporary evils 
which time, a higher moral tone, and the more 
steady pursuits of man will remedy. Three years ago 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 415 

only a dozen shanties sprinkled its sand-hills ; now, 
even with its heart burnt out, it looks like the skele- 
ton of a huge city. That heart will be reconstructed, 
and send the life-blood leaping through the system. 

Benicia. — This town on the straits of Carquenas 
has the advantages of a bold shore, a quiet anchorage, 
and depth of water for ships of any size. Even with- 
out being a port of entry, it must become in time a 
large commercial depot. The small craft which float 
the waters of the Suisun, Sacramento, and San Joa- 
quin, and which are ill suited to the rough bay below, 
will here deposit their cargoes. It has been selected 
as the most feasible site for a navy-yard, and the 
army stores are already housed on its quay. It was 
first selected as the site of a city by Robert Semple, 
president of the Constitution Convention, and rose 
rapidly into importance under his fostering care, and 
the energetic measures of Thomas O. Larkin. 

Sacramento City. — The site of this town on the 
eastern bank of the Sacramento, at its junction with 
the Rio Americano, presents many picturesque fea- 
tures. It is a town in the woods, with the native 
trees still waving over its roofs. The sails of the 
shipping are inwoven with the masses of shade, which 
serve as awnings. Roads diverge from it to the 
mines on the North, Middle, and South Forks, Bear, 
Juba, and Feather rivers. The town has been swept 
by one inundation from the overflow of the Ameri- 



416 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

cano. It came upon the inhabitants like a thief in 
the night ; they had only time to jump from their 
beds ; the roaring flood was at their heels : some 
reached the shipping, and some sprung into the tops 
of the trees. But a levee is now going up which 
will shut out the flood ; while brick and slate will 
ward oflf the flame. This place is destined to figure 
among the largest towns of California. 

Sutter. — This town, which bears the name of the 
old pioneer on whose lands it stands, is beautifully 
located on the Sacramento, at the head waters of navi- 
gation. From it issue the roads leading to all the 
northern mines ; the site is not subject to overflow, 
and the country around possesses great fertility. It 
has a large commercial business : its central position 
must secure its prosperity. Its proprietors are Capt. 
Sutter and John McDugal, lieutenant-governor of the 
state — gentlemen who pursue the most liberal policy, 
and reap their reward in the growth of their town. 

Vernon. — This is the only town on Feather river, 
and stands at the confluence of that stream with the 
Sacramento. It is above the reach of any inunda- 
tion, and commands a country of wildly varieti as- 
pect. Its location, rather than buildings or business, 
invest it with interest. Its importance is prospec- 
tive ; but the future is fast becoming the present. 
Its projectors are Franklin Bates, E. O. Crosby, and 
Samuel Norris. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 417 

Boston.— This town is located on the American 
Fork at its junction with the Sacramento. The plot 
of, the town is beautiful — its situation agreeable. Di- 
rect roads issue from it to the placers of the Yuba, 
Feather river, the North, Middle, and South forks of 
the Americano. Like Sacramento City, it is located 
within the grant of Capt. Sutter, whose title to the 
enterprising proprietors will undoubtedly be found 
valid. Several buildings have been erected, which 
give an air of stability to the flapping tents which 
shadow its avenues. 

Stockton. — This flourishing town is located at the 
head of an arm of the Suisun bay, and is accessible 
to small steamers. It stands in the centre of a vast 
fertile plain, and on a position sufficiently elevated to 
exempt it from inundation. It is the commercial de- 
pot for the southern mines ; the miners on the Moke- 
lumne, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Mercedes, 
and King's river, are supplied with provisions and 
clothing from its heavy storehouses. It will yet 
loom largely in the map of California. 

New York. — This town is located on the triangle 
formed by the junction of the San Joaquin river and * 
Suisun bay, with its base resting on a broad plain» 
covered with clusters of live-oak. The banks of the 
river and bay are bold, and above the reach of tide 
and freshet. The bay is represented on the surveys 
which have been made as having sufficient depth for 



418 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

merchantmen of the largest class. The communica 
tion with the sea lies through the broad strait of the 
Carquinas. The town will naturally command the 
commerce of the San Joaquin and its numerous trib- 
utaries. The projectors of the town are Col. Ste- 
venson and Dr. Parker. 

Alvezo. — This town is situated at the head of the 
great bay of San Francisco, on the Gaudalupe, which 
flows through it. It is the natural depot of the com- 
merce which will roll in a broad exhaustless tide, 
through the fertile valleys of Santa Clara and San 
Jose. It lies directly in the route to the gold and 
quicksilver mines, with a climate not surpassed by 
that of any locality in the northern sections of Cali- 
fornia. The fertility of the surrounding country 
must ere long make itself felt in the growth and pros- 
perity of this town. San Francisco is dependant on 
the products of its horticulture. Fortunes might be 
made by any persons who would go there and devote 
themselves exclusively to gardening. But it is not 
in man to raise cabbages in a soil that contains gold. 
The proprietors of the town are J. D. Hoppe, Peter 
H. Burnett, and Charles B. Marvin. 

Stanislaus. — This town, situated at the junction 
of the Stanislaus and San Joaquin, is fast rising into 
consideration. It is the highest point to which the 
lightest steamer can ascend, and is in the immediate 
vicinity of the richest mines in California. From its 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 419 

Storehouses supplies are destined to flow through the 
whole southern mines. The placers on the Stanis- 
laus, Tuolumne, Mercedes, and King's river must 
contribute to its growing wealth. It is in the direct 
route from Monterey to the mines — a route which 
has been surveyed in reference to a great public 
road, and through which a portion of the commerce 
of the Pacific will one day roll. This town was pro- 
jected by Samuel Brannan, the sagacious leader of 
the Mormon battalion in California. 

SoNORA and Crescent City. — These towns, perch- 
ed up among the gold mines which overlook the San 
Joaquin, derive their importance from no river or 
bay ; their resources are in the rocks and sands of 
the mountain freshet. They are the miner's home — 
his winter quarters — his metropolis, to which he 
goes for society, recreation, repose, frolic, and fun. 
Through the livelong night the rafters ring with re- 
sounding mirth, while the storm unheeded raves with- 
out. Of all the sites for a hamlet which I have met 
with in the mining region, I should prefer the one at 
the head of a ravine near the sources of the Stanis- 
laus. It is a natural amphitheatre, throwing on the 
eye its sweeping wall of wild cliffs and waving shade. 
From the green bosom of its arena swells a slight 
elevation, covered with beautiful evergreen trees. A 
little rivulet leaps from a rock, and sings in its spark- 
ling flow the year round ; while the leaves, as if in 
love with the spot, whisper in the soft night-wind. 



420 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Many a night have I stood there in silent revery, 
watching the bright stars, the trembUng shadows of 
the trees, and hstening to the silver lay of the stream- 
let. The Coliseum, with its melancholy night-bird 
and solemn grandeur, can never rival this temple of 
nature. 

THE ONE MOON TOWN. 

9 

The recent discovery of Trinidad bay, which lies 
about two hundred miles north of San Francisco, 
will have a material effect on the local interests of 
the country. It will open a new channel of com- 
merce into the northern mines, and render accessible 
the finest forests in California. This bay, as repre- 
sented, has sufficient depth and capacity to shelter a 
large marine. A town has already been laid out on 
the curve of its bold shore ; streets, squares, and edi- 
fices have ceased to figure on the map, and become a 
reality. Where but one moon since the shark and 
seal plunged and played at will, freighted ships are 
riding at anchor ; while the indignant bear has only 
had time to gather up her cubs and seek a new 
jungle. 

Before this sheet can get to press, there will be a 
daily on Trinidad bay, with the price-current of New 
York and London figuring in its columns, and an 
opera of Rossini singing its prelude between the reel- 
ing anthems of the church-going bell. Why, man ! 
you talk of the slumbers of Rip Van Winkle, and the 
visions of the seven sleepers of Ephesus ! Know you 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 421 

not the whole world is asleep, save what wakes and 
works on Trinidad bay ? It takes an age in other 
lands to rear a city ; but here, one phase of the fickle 
moon, and up she comes, like Venus from the wave, 
or the peak of Pico at the call of the morning star. 
Clear the coast with your old dormitory hulks of 
slumbering ages, and let this new Trinidad launch 
her keeled thunder! Her pennant unrolls itself in 
flame on the wind, and her trident is tipt with the 
keen lightning. The great whale of the Pacific turns 
here his startled gaze — plunges, and blows next half 
way to Japan. 

Hurra for Trinidad ! Let nations sleep, 

And empires m'oulder in their misty shi'oud ; 

She shakes her trident on her golden steep, 

O'er -waving woods, in solemn reverence bowed ; 

Her bright aurora throws its flashing ray 

Where primal worlds in sunless darkness stray 1 , 

A shout from those touched orbs comes roUing back, 
As rose the anthem of tliis earth, when first 

Around the night that sphered her rayless track, 
The breaking morn in golden splendors burst — 

The king of chaos sees the new-born light, 

And, howling, plunges down the gulf of night. 

OLD AND WELL-TRIED FRIENDS. 

I must not forget in my reveries over the map 
marvels of the new towns, the fireside friends of good 
old Monterey. Among them my three years circled 
their varied rounds, now stored with memories that 

36 



422 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

can never die. I must introduce them to the reader 
before we part, and pay them the tribute of a farewell 
word. They have no splendor of outward circum- 
stance to stir your wonder, but hearts as true as ever 
throbbed in the human breast. Here is David Spence, 
from the hills of Scotland, a man of unblemished in- 
^ tegrity and sterling sense, married to a daughter of 
the late Don Jose Estrada, a resident of twenty-five 
years in Monterey, my predecessor in the office of 
alcalde, and recently prefect of the department. 
Here is W. P. Hartnell, from England, married into 
the Noriega family, the best linguist in the country, 
and the government translator, with the claims of a 
twenty-seven years' residence, and a circle of chil- 
dren, in which yours, my gentle reader, would only 
appear as a few more added to a sweeping flock. 

Here is Don Manuel Dias, a native of Mexico, 
naartied to a sister of Mrs. Spence, a gentleman 
whose urbanity and intelligence honors his origin. 
Here is James McKinley, a gentleman of liberality 
and wealth from the Grampian Hills, married to a 
daughter of a Spanish Don from the Bay of Biscay. 
Here is Don Manuel Jimeno, once secretary of state, 
married into the Noriega family, to a lady of spark- 
ling wit and gentle benevolence. Here is Milton 
Little, a man of mind and means, who broke into 
California many years ago from the west, and whom 
I joined in wedlock to a fair daughter of the empire 
state. Here is Don Jose Abrigo, blest with wealth, 
enterprise, and a fine family of boys. Here is J. P. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 423 

Lease, from Missouri, long resident in California, with 
ample fortune and generous heart, and whose amia- 
ble wife is the sister of Gen. Vallejo. Here is James 
Watson, born on the Thames ; came to Monterey 
twenty-five years since, married a lady of the country, 
is now a heavy capitalist, with a charity open as day. 
Here is Charles Walter, of German origin, a resident 
of many years, married into the Estrada family, and 
possessed of wealth. Here is Gov. Pulacio, from 
Lower California — a gentleman of the old school — 
with a wife and daughter imbued with the same spirit 
of refinement. Here is J. F. Dye, from our own 
shores, long identified with the interests of the country, 
and married to one of its daughters. Here are Messrs. 
Toomes & Thoms, bosom friends, partners in busi- 
ness, and men of enterprise and substance. Here is 
James Stokes, from England, for twenty-five years a 
citizen of Monterey, a merchant, farmer, and docftoi^ 
married to a lady of the country, in whom the afflicted 
always find a friend. 

Here is Senor Soveranez, whose saloon is lit by 
eyes bright as nuptial tapers, and where the Castilian 
flows soft as if warbled by a bird. Here is Padre 
Ramirez, an intelligent, liberal, and warm-hearted 
canon of the Catholic church ; and also the Rev. S. 
H. Willey, of the Protestant persuasion, who is or- 
ganizing a society, and who has the zeal and energy 
to carry the enterprise through. Monterey lost one 
of its most cherished ladies, when Mrs. Larkin took 
her departure. Here for eighteen years she had lent 



434 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

a charm to its society. She was the first lady from 
the United States that settled in California. Long 
will the good old town lament the departure of T. H. 
Green. His enterprise and integrity as a merchant, 
and his benevolence as a citizen, were everywhere 
felt. The widow and the orphan ever found in him 
a generous friend. Nor must I forget the young and 
gentle Saladonia, who has often hovered like a minis- 
tering angel in the family of the poor emigrant. Nor 
must I pass unheeded the grave of my revered friend 
Don Juan Malerine, beloved in life, and who died 

" Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams." 



4 



425 



CHAPTER XXXIl. 

BEIEF NOTICES OF PERSONS WHOSE PORTRAITS EMBELLISH THIS VOLUME, 
AND WHO ARE PROMINENTLY CONNECTED WITH CALIFORNIA AFFAIRS. 

JOHN CHARLES FREMONT 

Is a native of South Carolina — was born in 1813 — 
received his education at Charleston College, and 
first evinced the vigor of his mathematical genius in 
the efficient aid rendered the accomplished Nicollet 
in his survey of the basin of the upper Mississippi. 
The importance of this service was acknowledged by 
the government in his appointment as a lieutenant in 
the corps of Topographical Engineers. In 1841 the 
war department confided to him the interests and ob- 
jects of an expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in 
which he discovered and mapped the South Pass. 
The scientific results of this adventure awakened in 
the public mind an intense enthusiasm for a more 
extended exploration. In the following year he left 
the frontier settlements at the head of a small party, 
crossed the Rocky Mountains, discovered and sur- 
veyed the great valley of the Salt Lake, and extended 
his researches into Oregon and California. These 
explorations, which occupied the greater portion of 
two years, were not confined to topographical ques- 
tions ; they embraced all the departments of natural 

36* 



4C26 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

history, with extended meteorological observations. 
They fill a volume, in which the trophies of science 
are blended with the incidents of the wildest adven- 
ture. 

In 1844, the explorer left the United States again 
for the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, and had 
descended into California, when the declaration of 
war suspended his scientific pursuits, and summoned 
him to the field. He had been honored successively 
with the rank of captain, major, and colonel. A bat- 
talion of riflemen enrolled themselves under his com- 
mand. Their campaign, in the winter of 1846, im- 
pressed its intrepid spirit and heroic action on the 
fate of the war. Constrained by the orders of a su- 
perior. Col. Fremont was again in the United States ; 
where, having declined a return of his commission, 
which he had adorned with eminent service, he threw 
himself, with unrepressed spirit, on his own energies, 
and started again for California. This was his sev- 
enth adventure across the continent ; and owing to 
the lateness of the season, was attended with hard- 
ships and privations, in which many of his brave 
mountaineers perished. But his force of purpose tri- 
umphed over the elements, and carried him through. 
The new territory, in the vast accessions of a rush- 
ing emigration, had suddenly risen to the dignity of 
a commonwealth. A United States senator was to 
be chosen : it was the highest office within the gift 
of the people, and they conferred it, without distinc- 
tion of party, on Col. Fremont. The decree of a 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 427 

military tribunal, bound to those rigid rules of disci- 
pline which never bend to the force of circumstance, 
may dispose (Jf the parchment honors of a commis- 
sion, but the public services and private worth of the 
individual must remain ; the substantial benefits con- 
ferred on mankind must remain ; the path opened to 
the golden gates of the west must remain ; the flag 
of the country still fly along its fortified line, and the 
great tide of emigration roll through its avenue for 
ages. If Humboldt be the Nestor of scient-ific travel- 
lers, and Audubon the interpreter of nature, Col. Fre- 
mont is the Pathfinder of empire. 

WILLIAM M. GWIN 

Was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, in 1805. 
His father, the Rev. James Gwin, was a distinguished 
divine in the Methodist Episcopal church, and one ot 
its founders in the West. He was for fifty years the 
intimate and confidential friend of Gen. Jackson, and 
chaplain to his army during the late war with Eng- 
land. Dr. Gwin was graduated at Transylvania Uni- 
versity, in Kentucky, and practised his profession, 
with eminent success for several years, in his native 
state and Mississippi. He relinquished his profession 
in 1833, and was appointed, by Gen. Jackson, Mar- 
shal of Mississippi, — an office which he filled until 
after the election of Gen. Harrison to the presidency, 
when he became a candidate for congress, and was 
elected by a large majority. 

He was remarked, during the session, as a ready, 



428 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

forcible debater, and was renominated by his district 
with great unanimity, but declined running, owing to 
pecuniary embarrassments incurred while he held the 
office of marshal, and brought about by the paper 
money system, which involved Mississippi in bank- 
ruptcy, and especially the public officers, who, like 
Dr. Gwin, had been induced, under the decisions of 
the courts, to take this irresponsible paper in payment 
of executions. In 1840, Dr. Gwin removed to New 
Orleans, and was soon after appointed commissioner 
to superintend the erection of the custom-house in that 
city, destined to be one of the largest public edifices in 
the country. From this position he retired on the 
election of Gen. Taylor to the presidency, and emi- 
grated to California, where he engaged actively in 
organizing a state government. He was elected a 
member of the convention from San Francisco, and 
bore a prominent, influential part in its debates and 
proceedings, which resulted in the present noble con- 
stitution. The importance of these services were 
duly recognized by the people of California, and they 
testified their regard and confidence in conferring on 
him the dignity of a United States senator. He will 
have it in his power to do much for the new state, 
and we feel assured she will find in him a resolute 
champion of her rights. 

THOMAS OLIVER LAUKIN, 

Born in Charleston, Mass., 1803, and emigrated to 
California eighteen years since. The same spirit of 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 429 

adventure which took him to this country, charac- 
terized his subsequent career. He came here with- 
out capital, and with no sources of rehance save in 
his own enterprise and activity. There was then no 
gold out of which a fortune could be suddenly piled, 
and no established channels of business through 
which a man could become regularly and safely rich. 
But this unsettled state of affairs was suited to the 
enterprising spirit of Mr. Larkin. He often projected 
enterprises and achieved them, seemingly through the 
boldness of the design ; but there was ever behind 
this a restless energy that pushed them to a success- 
ful result. Many and most of the public improve- 
ments were planned and executed by him ; the only 
wharf and custom-house on the coast were erected 
through his activity. 

Through all the revolutions which convulsed the 
country, he held the*post of United States consul, 
and vigilantly protected our commercial interests and 
the rights of our citizens. He was deeply concerned 
in all the measures which at length severed Califcr- 
nia from Mexico, and loaned his funds and credit to 
a large amount in raising means to meet the sudden 
exigences of the war. The Californians, to cut of! 
these supplies, managed at last, very adroitly, to cap- 
ture him, and held him as a hostage in any important 
contingency. But the work had already been meas- 
urably accomplished, and a restoration of prisoners 
soon followed. Mr. Larkin early engaged in the or- 
ganization of a civil government — w^as a delegate 



430 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

from Monterey to the convention for drafting a con- 
stitution, and impressed his practical genius on many 
of its provisions. He has never been a candidate for 
any office, and resigned that of Navy Agent, with 
which he had been honored, as soon as the condition 
of pubUc affairs would allow. His commercial en- 
terprise and sagacity work best where they have the 
most scope ; they h^ve secured to him an ample for- 
tune. His house has always been the home of the 
stranger ; his hospitalities are ever on a scale with 
his ample means. 

GEORGE W. WRIGHT. 

Among the successful adventurers into California, 
Mr. Wright holds a prominent place. He was born 
in Massachusetts in 1816, where he received a busi- 
ness education, and commenced life with no capital 
beyond his own enterprise and* sagacity. Through 
these he won his way to a partnership in a large 
commercial house, extensively engaged in the wha- 
ling service and its correlative branches of trade. 
Without disturbing these relations, he determined to 
push his adventures into Cahfornia, where he arrived 
soon after the discovery of the placers, and engaged 
in the commerce of the country. Success and a 
rapid accumulation of capital attended his efforts. A 
large banking-house at San Francisco was proposed, 
and he became the leading partner. This house has 
withstood all the shocks which have carried ruin to 
many others, and maintained its credit unshaken. At 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 431 

the adoption of the constitution, two members of Con- 
gress were to be chosen, and Mr. Wright was elected 
to this honorable position. This token of confidence 
and regard was the more to be appreciated, as it re- 
sulted from no constrained party organization, but 
the decided preference of the citizens, expressed at 
the ballot-box. 

Mr. Wright was the first to c^lect specimens of 
the gold-bearing quartz. He traversed the foot hills 
of the Sierra Nevada for this purpose, and underwent 
many hardships and perils. He was often for days 
on the very shortest allowance, and obliged to share 
even this with his famished mule. The quartz fre- 
quently seam the loftiest ridges, and can be reached 
only through the most exhausting fatigue. None but 
those of iron muscles can scale the soaring steep, or 
dislodge, with steady hand and head, the treasured 
vein in the giddy vCrge. Against these obstacles 
Mr. Wright persevered, and gathered a great variety 
of specimens, curious in themselves and often rich, 
but valued mainly as indications of the wealth of the 
quartz, and as leading-clues to their localities. They 
will serve to stimulate the exertions and ffuide the 
footsteps of the subsequent miner. They are not 
stowed away as secrets for the exclusive benefit of 
the discoverer : the information they impart is free 
to all. The only danger lies in conclusions too 
glowing for the reality, and those hasty adventures 
in which anticipation overleaps the laborious process. 
The specimens are genuine, and have been pro- 



432 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

nounced at the mint the richest that have been test- 
ed. The extent to which the gold-bearing quartz 
prevails can be thoroughly known only in the results 
of mining operations. It has been found in difierent 
localities between Feather river and the Mariposa ; 
and if it approaches in value the most ordinary spe- 
cimens gathered by ^Ir. Wright and myself, will mu- 
nificently reward ^e labors of the miner, and will 
upset all geological deductions connected with gold- 
bearing quartz in other countries. 

JACOB R. SNYDER. 

Born in Philadelphia, 1813, emigrated to the west 
in 1834, and has been for the last five years a citi- 
zen of California. At the commencement of hostilities 
in that country, Com. Stockton, then in command of 
the land and naval forces, confided to him the organi- 
zation of an artillery corps, afid subsequently con- 
ferred on him the appointment of quarter-master to 
the battalion of mounted riflemen under Col. Fre- 
mont, which office he continued to fill during the war. 
At the restoration of peace, Mr. Snyder was appointed 
by Governor Mason surveyor for the middle depart- 
ment of California, where his activity and science 
were called into play in the settlement of many ques- 
tions of disputed boundary in land titles. In the or- 
ganization of a civil government, he was elected 
delegate from Sacramento district to the convention, 
and was one of the committee for drafting the con- 
stitution. His remarks in the convention are charac- 



THREE YEARS IN CALIP^ORNIA. 433 

terized for their pertinency, brevity, and sound sense. 
He is a good specimen of that versatihty which be- 
longs to the " universal nation." Fond of adventure, 
and with resources in himself to meet all its exigen- 
cies, — partial to new positions, new duties, and re- 
sponsibilities, and yet perfectly at home in each — 
ever with some beckoning object ahead, which, when 
attained, is to be relinquished for#)ne of still greater 
magnitude, — and all this with a sound judgment, in- 
llexible integrity, and unostentatious generosity. He 
was one of the original projectors of Sacramento 
City, and is still largely concerned in its prosperity. 
His liberal policy, sustained by that of his enter- 
prising, intelligent partner. Major Reading, is ex- 
hibited in the ample reservations which have been 
made for churches, school-houses, and public squares. 

CAPT. JOHN A. SUTTER. 

The leading features of interest in the adventurous 
life of Capt. Sutter are connected with California 
aflairs. He was born in Switzerland near the close 
of the last century, and early relinquished its glaciers 
and lakes for the sunny fields of France. His love 
of adventure turned his attention to the camp, where 
his gallant conduct soon secured him an honorable 
commission. But the wars of the continent being 
over, he emigrated to the United States, and having 
resided several years in Missouri, turned his roving 
eye to the shores of the Pacific. 

Throuo-h a series of adventures, which seem more 

o 

37 



434 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

like fictions than realities, he at length reached the 
valley of the Sacramento, where he procured from 
the government the grant of a large tract of land. 
The country around was in the possession of wild 
Indians, some of whom he conciliated, and through 
their labors constructed a fort to protect himself from 
the rest. His influence over these children of the 
forest was such tlflh in a few years he had over a 
thousand of their number at work on his farm. He 
was upright in all his dealings with them, and paid 
each as punctually as if he had been a king. His 
place, to which he gave the name of New Helvetia, 
was for years the emigrant's goal, — the land of 
promise, which glimmered in warm light through his 
cold mountain dream. There he was sure of a cor- 
dial welcome, and a hospitality that knew no bounds ; 
no matter from what clime he came, or what were 
his credentials ; it was enough for his generous host 
to know that he was an adventurer, poor in all things 
save a manly purpose. But often the bounty of Capt. 
Sutter has gone forth to meet the emigrant ; it was 
his sympathy and active benevolence that mainly 
rescued the emigrants of forty-six from starvation in 
the California mountains. When his relief reached 
them, their last animals had been killed and consumed 
for food, their last pound of provisions, and their last 
means of subsistence had given out ; they were em- 
bayed in depths of snow which baffled their ex- 
hausted strength, and hunger hung in horror over the 
dead. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 435 

It was on the lands of Capt. Sutter that gold was 
first discovered ; the cut of a mill-race revealed the 
entrancing treasure ; but all were welcome to the 
results ; no spirit of monopoly obstructed the digger, 
or enriched the proprietor ; fortunes went freely to 
the pockets of those who drove the spade and turned 
the bowl. When a civil organization was proposed, 
the generous captain was deputed by the electors in 
his district to represent them in the convention. He 
there favored all measures calculated to secure the 
interests of the emigrants, and develop the resources 
of the country. When he put his own signature to 
the constitution, he dropped the pen in very glad- 
ness ; the light of other days encircled his spirit, he 
was a child again ; all felt the tears which filled the 
eyes of the old pioneer, and wept in joyous sympathy 
with their source. The work was done, and Califor- 
nia was henceforth to revolve among the glorious orbs 
of the republic ! 

DON MARIANO GUADALUPE VALLEJO. 

This distinguished Californian was born in Mon- 
terey, 18|^; his father held a mihtary command 
under the crown of Spain, and subsequently under 
the Mexican republic ; he lived to the advanced age 
of 95, and saw his children allied in marriage to the 
most influential families in the province. Don Mari- 
ano entered the service of the government as a 
cadet ; rose rapidly to a post of commanding influ- 
ence, but always evinced a repugnance to Mexican 



436 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

rule. In 1837, assisted by his nephew, Alverado, he 
succeeded in driving the satelhtes of that ill-starred 
republic out of the country, and in the organization 
of the new government, was honored with the post 
of commandante-general. 

When the United States flag was raised, Gen. 
Vallejo saw in it the opportunity of securing the 
permanent tranquillity and prosperity of California : 
a thousand of his noble horses went under the saddles 
of our mounted riflemen. The war over, he was 
first and foremost in measures for a civil organiza- 
tion, and represented the district of Sonoma in the 
convention for drafting a constitution. His liberal 
views and sound policy pervade every provision of 
the instrument. He was subsequently elected a 
senator to the state legislature, and might have been 
a successful candidate for any oflice within the gift 
of the people. He is a large landed proprietor ; his 
cattle are on a hundred hills, and his horses in as 
many vales ; while a thousand Indians, whom he has 
won from savage life, cultivate his fields, and garner 
his grains. His munificent liberality and profound 
interest in the cause of education, and the claims of 
humanity, may be gathered from the following state- 
ment contained in the report of the committee of the 
California legislature on public buildings and grounds, 
in relation to the permanent location of the seat of 
government. This committee say : 

Gen. Yallejo. a native of California, and now a member of the 
legislature, otters a site lying upon the Straits of Carquinas and Napa 



THREE YEARS IX CALIFORNIA. 437 

river, where he proposes to lay out the capital to be called Eureka, 
or such other name as the legislature may suggest. He proposes— 

1st. That said permanent seat of government may be laid out in 
such form as five Commissioners may direct, three of whom shall 
be appomted by tlie legislature, and two by himself. 

2d. That he proposes to grant to the state, for the following pur- 
poses, free of cost : 

Acres, 

Capitol and grounds 20 

Governor's house and grounds 10 

Oflices of Treasurer, Comptroller, Secretary of State, &c 5 

State Library and Translator's office 1 

Orplians Asylum 20 

Male Charity Hospital 10 

Female Charity Hospital 10 

Asylum for the Blind 4 

Deaf and Dumb Asylum 4 

Lunatic Asylum 20 

Four Common Schools 8 

State University 20 

State Botanical Garden 4 

State Penitentiary 20 

Also, your memorialist proposes to donate and pay over to the 
state, within two years after the acceptance of his propositions, the 
following sums of money, for the faithful payment of which he pro- 
poses to give to the state ample security. 

For building State Capitol $125,000 

Furnishing the same 10,000 

Building Governor's House 10,000 

Furnishing the same 5,000 

State Library and Translator's Office 5,000 

State Library „.. 5,000 

For the building of the Offices of Secretary of State, Comp- 
troller, Attorney-General, Surveyor-General, and Treas- 
urer, should the Commissioners deem it proper to sepa- 
rate them from the State House 20,000 

Building Orphan's Asvlum 20,000 

Building Female Charitv Hospital 20,000 

Building Male Charitv Hospital 20,000 

Building Asvlum for Blind 20,000 

Building Deaf and Dumb Asylum 20,000 

Building State University 20,000 

For University Library 10,000 

Scientific Apparatus therefor 5,000 

Chemical Laboratory therefor 3,000 

Mineral Cabinet therefor 3,000 

Foui- Common School Edifices 10,000 

Purchasing Books for same 5,000 

37* 



^ 



438 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 



For the Building of a Lunatic Asylum $20,000 

For a State Penitentiary 20,000 

For a State Botanical Collection 3,000 

In accordance witli another proposition of Gen. Vallcjo, the com- 
mittee further report in favor of submitting this offer tt> tlie accept- 
ance of the people, at the next general election. Tlie report adds : 

" Your committee caimot dwell with too much warmth upon the 
magniticent propositions contained in the memorial of Gen. Vallejo. 
They breathe throughout the spirit of an enlarged miiul, and a sincere 
public benefactor, for which he deserves the tlumks of this body, and 
the gratitude of California. Such a proposition looks more like the 
legacy of a prince to his people, than the free donation of a private 
planter to a great state." 



439 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE MISSION ESTABLISHMENTS IX CALIFORNIA. — THEIR ORIGIN, OBJECTS, 
LOCALITIES, LANDS, REVENUES, OVERTHROW, 

The missions of California are the most prominent 
features in her history. They were estabUshed to 
propagate the Roman faith, and extend the domain 
of the Spanish crown. They contemplated the con- 
version of the untutored natives, and a permanent 
possession of the soil. They were an extension of 
the same system which, half a century previous, had 
achieved such signal triumphs on the peninsula and 
through the northern provinces of Mexico. The 
founders were men of unwearied zeal and heroic ac- 
tion ; their enterprise, fortitude, and unshaken pur- 
pose might rouse all the slumbering strings of the 
religious minstrel. 

In Alta Cahfornia these missions formed a religious 
cordon the entire extent of the coast. They were 
reared at intervals of twelve or fourteen leagues in 
all the great fertile valleys opening on the sea. The 
first was founded in 1769 ; others followed fast, and 
before the close of the century the whole twenty 
were in effective operation. Each establishment 
contained within itself the elements of its strength, the 
sources of its aggrandizement. It embraced a mas- 
sive church, garnished with costly plate ; dwellings, 



440 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

Storehouses, and workshops, suited to the wants of a 
growing colony ; broad lands, encircling meadows, 
forests, streams, orchards, and cultured fields, with 
cattle, sheep, and horses, grazing on a " thousand 
hills," and game in every glade ; and above all, a 
faith that could scoop up whole tribes of savages, 
dazzling them with the symbols of religion, and im- 
pressing them with the conviction that submission to 
the padres was obedience to God. 

These vast establishments absorbed the lands, cap- 
ital, and business of the country ; shut out emigra- 
tion, suppressed enterprise, and moulded every interest 
into an implement of ecclesiastical sway. In 1833, 
the supreme government of Mexico issued a decree 
which converted them into civil institutions, subject 
to the control of the state. The consequence was, 
the padres lost their power, and with that departed 
the enterprise and wealth of their establishments. 
The civil administrators plundered them of their 
stock, the governors granted to favorites sections of 
their lands, till, with few exceptions, only the huge 
buildings remain. Their localities will serve as im- 
portant guides to emigrants in quest of lands adapted 
to pasturage and agriculture, and their statistics will 
show, to some extent, the productive forces of the 
soil. These have been gathered, with some pains, 
from the archives of each mission, and are grouped 
for the first time in these pages. They are like the 
missions themselves — skeletons. California, though 
seemingly young, is piled with the wrecks of the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 441 

past ; around the stately ruin flits the shade of the 
padre ; his warm welcome to streaming guests still 
lingers in the hall ; and the loud mirth of the festive 
crowds still echoes in the darkened arches. But all 
these good olden times are passed — their glorious 
realities are gone — like the sound and sun-lit splen- 
dors of the wave dashed and broken on the remorse- 
less rock. 

MISSION OF DOLLORES. 

This mission is situated on the south side of the 
bay of San Francisco, two miles from the town. Its 
lands were forty leagues in circumference. Its stock, 
in 1825, consisted of 76,000 head of cattle, 950 tame 
horses, 2000 breeding-mares, 84 stud of choice breed, 
820 mules, 79,000 sheep, 2000 hogs, 456 yoke of 
working-oxen, 18,000 bushels of wheat and barley, 
$35,000 in merchandize, and 825,000 in specie. It 
was secularized in 1834 by order of Gen. Figueroa, 
and soon became a wreck. The walls of the huge 
church only remain. Little did the good padre who 
reared them dream of the great town that was to 
rise in their shadows ! 

MISSION OF SANTA CLARA. 

This mission is situated in the bosom of the great 
valley that bears its name, six miles from the embar- 
cadara which strands the upper bend of the great 
bay of San Francisco. Around it lie the richest 
lands in California — once its own domain. In 1823 



442 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

it branded, as the increase of one year, 22,400 calves. 
It owned 74,280 head of full-grown cattle, 407 yoke 
of working-oxen, 82,540 sheep, 1890 trained horses, 
4235 mares, 725 mules, 1000 hogs, and $120,000 in 
goods. The church is a gigantic pile, and was once 
adorned with ornaments of massive silver. The 
property was secularized in 1834 by order of Gen. 
Figueroa, when the frolicking citizens of the Pueblo 
de San Jose began to revel on its ruins. It has still 
a fine vineyard, where the grape reels and the pear 
mellows 

MISSION OF SAN J0S6. 

This mission was founded in 1797, fifteen miles 
from the town which bears its name, and at the ter- 
minus of a valley unrivalled in fertility. It supplied 
the Russian Company with grain, who sent yearly 
several large ships for stores for their northern settle- 
ments. It is stated, in the archives of this mission, 
that the mayordomo gathered 8,600 bushels of wheat 
from 80 bushels sown ; and the following year, from 
the grain which fell at the time of the first harvest, 
5200 bushels ! The priest told me that Julius Caesar 
deposited in the temple of Ceres 362 kernels of wheat, 
as the largest yield of any one kernel in the Roman 
empire ; and that he had gathered and counted, from 
one kernel sown at this mission, 365 — beating Romo 
in three kernels ! This mission had, in 1825, 3000 
Indians, 62,000 head of cattle, 840 tame horses, 1500 
mares, 420 mules, 310 yoke of oxen, and 62,000 sheep. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA 443 

It has Still a vineyard, in which large quantities of 
luscious grapes and pears are raised. It was secular- 
ized in 1834 ; and the old church bell, as if indignant 
at the change, has plunged from its chiming tower. 

MISSION OF SAN JUAN BOUTISTA. 

This mission looms over a rich valley, ten leagues 
from Monterey— founded 1794. Its lands swept the 
broad interval and adjacent hills. In 1820 it owned 
43,870 head of cattle, 1360 tame horses, 4870 mares, 
colts, and fillies. It had seven sheep-farms, contain- 
ing 69,530 sheep ; while the Indians attached to the 
mission drove 321 yoke of working-oxen. Its store- 
house contained $75,000 in goods and $20,000 in spe- 
cie. This mission was secularized in 1834 ; its cattle 
slaughtered for their hides and tallow, its sheep left 
to the wolves, its horses taken by the dandies, its In- 
dians left to hunt acorns, while the wind sighs over 
the grave of its last padre. 

MISSION OF SAN CARLOS. 

This mission, founded 1770, stands in the Carmei 
valley, three miles from Monterey. Through its 
ample lands flows a beautiful stream of water, which 
every governor of the country, for the last thirty 
years, has purposed conducting to the metropolis. 
Its gardens supply the vegetable market of Monterey. 
Its pears are extremely rich in flavor. In its soil 
were raised, in 1826, the first potatoes cultivated in 
California. So little did the presiding padre think of 



444 THREE YEAR3 IN CALIFORNIA. 

this strange vegetable, he allowed the Indians to raise 
and sell them to the whalers that visited Monterey, 
without disturbing their profits. He was satisfied if 
the Indians would give him one salmon in ten out of 
the hundreds they speared in the stream which swept 
past his door. This mission, in 1825, branded 2300 
calves ; had 87,600 head of cattle, 1800 horses and 
mares, 365 yoke of oxen, nine sheep-farms, with an 
average of about 6,000 sheep on each, a large assort- 
ment of merchandise, and $40,000 in specie, which 
was buried on the report of a piratical cruiser on the 
coast. It was secularized in 1835. The church re- 
mains ; but the only being I found in it was a large 
white owl, who seemed to mourn its fall. 

MISSION OF SANTA CRUZ. 

This mission stands near the coast on the northern 
side of the bay of Monterey, in a tract of land re- 
markable for its agricultural capacities, which it de- 
veloped in the richest harvests. In 1830 this mission 
owned all the lands now cultivated or claimed by the 
farmers of Santa Cruz. It had 42,800 head of cattle, 
3200 horses and mares, 72,500 sheep, 200 mules, 
large herds of swine, a spacious church, garnished 
with $25,000 worth of silver plate. It was secular- 
ized in 1834 by order of Gen. Figueroa, and shared 
the fate of its Carmel sister. Only one padre lingers 
on the premises, and he seems the last of a perished 
race. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 445 

MISSION OF SOLEDAD. 

This mission is situated fifteen leagues southwest 
of Monterey, in a fertile plain, known by the name 
of the " llano del rey." The priest was an indefati- 
gable agriculturist. To obviate the summer drought, 
he constructed, through the labor of his Indians, an 
aqueduct extending fifteen miles, by which he could 
water twenty thousand acres of land. In 1826 this 
mission owned about 36,000 head of cattle, and a 
greater number of horses and mares than any other 
mission in the country. So great was the reproduc- 
tion of these animals, they were given away to pre- 
serve the pasturage for cattle and sheep. It had 
about 70,000 sheep, and 300 yoke of tame oxen. In 
1819 the mayordomo of this mission gathered 3400 
bushels of wheat from 38 bushels sown. It has still 
standing about a thousand fruit-trees, which still bear 
their mellow harvests ; but its secularization has been 
followed by decay and ruin. 

MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO. 

This mission is situated twelve leagues south of 
Soledad, on the border of an inland stream, upon 
which it has conferred its name. The buildings 
w^ere inclosed in a square, twelve hundred feet on 
each side, and walled w^ith adobes. Its lands were 
forty-eight leagues in circumference, including seven 
farms, with a convenient house and chapel attached 
to each. The stream was conducted in paved 

38 



446 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

trenches twenty miles for purposes of irrigation : 
large crops rewarded the husbandry of the padres. 
In 1822 this mission owned 52,800 head of cattle, 
1800 tame horses, 3000 mares, 500 yoke of working- 
oxen, 600 mules, 48,000 sheep, and 1000 swine. The 
climate here is cold in winter, and intensely hot in 
summer. This mission, on its secularization, fell into 
the hands of an administrator, who neglected its 
farms, drove off its cattle, and left its poor Indians to 
starve. 

MISSION OF SAN MIGUEL. 

This inland mission is situated sixteen leagues south 
of San Antonio, on a barren elevation ; but the lands 
attached to it sweep a circuit of sixty leagues, and 
embrace some of the finest tracts for agriculture. 
Of the sethe Estella tract is one ; its fertility is enough 
to mak-e a New England plough jump out of its rocks ; 
and a hundred emigrants will yet squat in its green 
bosom, and set the wild Indians and their warwhoop 
at defiance. In 1822 this mission owned 91,000 head 
of cattle, 1100 tame horses, 3000 mares, 2000 mules, 
170 yoke of working oxen, and 47,000 sheep. The 
mules were used in packing the products of the mis- 
sion to Monterey, and bringing back drygoods, gro- 
ceries, and the implements of husbandry. But now 
the Indian neophytes are gone, the padres have de- 
parted, and the old church only remains to interpret 
the past. 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 447 

MISSION OF SAN LUIS OBISPO. 

This mission stands fourteen leagues southeast of 
San Miguel, and within three of the coast. It has 
always been considered one of the richest missions 
in CaHfornia. The presiding priest, Luis Martinez, 
was a man of comprehensive purpose and indomita- 
ble force. His mission grant covered an immense tract 
of the richest lands on the seaboard. Every mountain 
stream was made to subserve the purposes of irriga- 
tion. He planted the cotton-tree, the lime, and a grove 
of olives, which still shower their abundant harvests 
on the tables of the Californians. He built a launch 
that run to Santa Barbara, trained his Indians to kill 
the otter, and often received thirty and forty skins a 
week from his children of the bow. His storehouse 
at Santa Margarita, with its high adobe walls, was 
one hundred and ninety feet long, and well stowed 
with grain. His table was loaded with the choicest 
game and richest wines ; his apartments for guests 
might have served the hospitable intentions of a 
prince. He had 87,000 head of grown cattle, 2000 
tame horses, 3500 mares, 3700 mules, eight sheep- 
farms, averaging 9000 sheep to each farm, and the 
broad Tulare valley, in which his Indians could 
capture any number of wild horses. The mayordomo 
of this mission in 1827, scattered on the ground, 
without having first ploughed it, 120 bushels of wheat, 
and then scratched it in with things called harrows, 
and harvested from the same over 7000 bushels. This 



448 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

was a lazy experiment, but shows what the land may 
yield when activity shall take the place of indolence. 
Father Martinez returned to Spain, taking with him 
$100,000 as the fruits of his mission enterprise. On 
the secularization of the mission in 1834, the property 
fell a prey to state exigency, and private rapacity. 
A gloomy wreck of grandeur only remains. 

MISSION OF LA PURISIMA. 

This mission is located eighteen leagues south of 
San Luis, at the base of a mountain spur, in the coast 
range ; its lands covered about thirteen hundred 
square miles, and were at one time so filled with wild 
cattle, the presiding priest granted permits to any 
person who desired to kill them for their hides and 
tallow, the meat being thrown away. Thousands in 
this shape fell under the lasso and knife, and still the 
mission numbered in 1830 over 40,000 head of cattle 
sufficiently domesticated to be coralled, 300 yoke of 
working-oxen, 2(500 tame horses, 4000 mares, 30,000 
sheep, and 5000 swine, which were raised for their 
lard — no one eating the meat. The horses on this 
mission were celebrated for their beauty and speed ; 
they performed feats under the saddle worthy of the 
most brilliant page in the register of the turf But 
now the steed and his rider are gone, and the willow 
sighs over the mouldering ruin. 

MISSION OF SANTA INEZ. 

This mission is seven leagues to the southward of 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 449 

La Purisima, and thirteen north of Santa Barbara. 
Its lands were more circumscribed than those of 
other missions ; still it had vast herds of cattle and 
sheep, and its horses vied in beauty and strength with 
those of its sister missions. Its property, in 1823, was 
valued at $800,000. A portion of its lands remain 
unalienated, and must be held for the benefit of its 
Indian neophytes, or accrue to the public domain. 
The last government decree left the whole in the 
hands of an administrator, who thought more of his 
own revenues than the claims of the poor Indians 
whom law had betrayed. 

MISSION OF SANTA BARBARA. 

This mission is twelve leagues south of Santa Inez. 
Between the two a steep mountain range shoulders 
its way to the sea. No wheeled vehicle has ever 
been driven over it, except that which transported 
the field-piece attached to Col. Fremont's battalion. 
The mission being near the beautiful town of Santa 
Barbara, its profuse hospitality contributed largely to 
the social pleasures of the citizens. Its vintage never 
failed, and its friendly fires ever burnt bright ; many a 
gay merrianda has kindled the eye of beauty in its soft 
shade. The main building is elaborately finished for 
California. The lands of the mission em.braced many 
leagues. In 1828 it had 40,000 head of cattle, 1000 
horses, 2000 mares, 80 yoke of oxen, 600 mules, and 
20,000 sheep. It is now under a civil administrator, 
and a portion of its lands still remain vested in their 
38^ 



450 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

original object. Around this mission emigrants will 
ere long settle in great numbers, and devote them- 
selves to agriculture and the cultivation of grapes, 
olives, figs, for which the climate is peculiarly adapted. 

MISSION OF SAN BUENAVENTURA. 

This mission is situated about nine leagues south 
of Santa Barbara, near the seaboard. Its lands cov- 
ered an area of fifteen hundred square miles, of which 
two hundred are arable land. In 1825 it owned 
37,000 head of cattle, 600 riding horses, 1300 mares, 
200 yoke of working-oxen, 500 mules, 30,000 sheep, 
200 goats, 2000 swine, a thrifty orchard, two rich 
vineyards, $35,000 in foreign goods, $27,000 in spe- 
cie, with church ornaments and clothing valued at 
$61,000. It was secularized in 1835, and has since 
been under a civil administrator, but all its wealth 
soon became a wreck. A small portion of its lands 
remain, and will tempt the horticultural emigrant to 
its fertile bosom. 

MISSION OF SAN FERNANDO. 

This mission, founded 1797, is situated about six- 
teen leagues south of San Buenaventura, in the midst 
of a beautiful plain, and has always been celebrated 
for the superior quality of the brandy distilled from 
its grapes. In 1826 it owned 56,000 head of cattle, 
1500 horses and mares, 200 mules, 400 yoke of work- 
ing-oxen, 64,000 sheep, and 2000 swine. It had in 
its stores about $50,000 in merchandise, $90,000 in 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 451 

specie ; its vineyards yielded annually about 2000 
gallons of brandy and as many of wine. Its secular- 
ization was followed by the dispersion of its Indians 
and ruin of its property. The hills, at the foot of 
which this mission stands, have, within the last ten 
years, produced considerable quantities of gold. One 
house exported about $30,000 of it. This was the first 
gold discovered in California, and the discovery was 
made three or four years previous to that on the 
American Fork. The marvel is the search for it did 
not extend further. 

MISSION OF SAN GABRIEL. 

This mission, located a little below los Angeles, 
was founded in 1771, and for several years led the 
others in enterprise and wealth. Its lands cover one 
of the most charming intervals in California; the 
soil and climate are both well adapted to fruit. In 
its gardens bloomed oranges, citrons, limes, apples, 
pears, peaches, pomegranates, figs, and grapes in 
great abundance. From the latter were made an- 
nually from four to six hundred barrels of wine, and 
two hundred of brandy, the sale of w hich produced 
an income of more than $12,000. In 1829 it had 
70,000 head of cattle, 1200 horses, 3000 mares, 400 
mules, 120 yoke of working-oxen, and 54,000 sheep. 
The charming rancho of Santa Anita belongs to this 
mission; it is situated on a gentle acclivity, where fruit 
trees and flowers scatter their perfume ; while a clear 
lake lies calmly in front, to which the leaping rivulets 



452 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

rush in glee. Here the emigrant will find more 
charms in the landscape than he has left behind, 
and a more balmy air than he ever yet inhaled. 

MISSION OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO. 

This mission, situated eifrjiteen leacrues south of 
San Gabriel, was founded in 1776, and was for many 
years one of the most opulent in the country. Its 
lands extended fifteen leagues along the seaboard, and 
back to the mountains, where they swept over many 
ravines of fertile soil and secjuestering shade. Through 
these roamed vast herds of cattle, sheep, and horses ; 
while the sickle, pruning-knife, and shuttle gleamed 
in the dexterous hand of the domestic Indian. The 
earthquake of 1812 threw down the heavy stone 
church, as if in omen of the disasters which have 
since befallen the mission. The cattle have gone to 
the shambles, the Indians are in exile, the mass is 
over, and the shuttle at rest. 

MISSION OF SAN LUIS REY. 

This mission, located near the sea, and twelve 
leagues south of San Juan, was founded in 1798 by 
padre Peyri, who had devoted himself for years to 
the improvement of the Indians. The buildings oc- 
cupy a large square, in the centre of which a foun- 
tain still plays ; along the front runs a corridor, 
supported by thirty-two arches, ornamented with 
latticed railings; while the interior is divided into 
apartments suited to the domestic economy of a large 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 453 

establishment. Here the wool of the sheep which 
grazed on the hills around, was woven into blankets, 
and coarse apparel for the Indians, while the fur- 
rowed field waved for miles under the golden grain. 
The reeling grape, the blushing peach, the yellow 
orange, the mellow pear, and luscious melon filled 
the garden, and loaded the wings of the zephyr with 
perfume. In 1826 it had three thousand Indians, 
70,.000 head of cattle, 2000 horses, 140 yoke of tame 
oxen, 300 mules, 68,000 sheep, and a tract of land, 
around half of which you could not gallop between 
sun and sun. Its massive stone church still remains, 
and the remnants of its greatness are now in the 
hands of an administrator who little heeds the object 
which animated its founder. 

MISSION OF SAN DIEGO. 

This mission, situated fourteen leagues south of 
San Luis Rey, and near the town that bears its 
name, was founded in 1769 by padre Junipero Lerra, 
and was the first established in Alta California. Its 
possessions covered the whole tract of land which 
circles for leagues around the beautiful bay upon 
which its crreen hills look. Here the first cattle were 
coralled, the first sheep sheared, the first field fur- 
rowed, the first vineyard planted, and the first church 
bell rung. The Indian heard in this strange sound 
the invoking voice of his God, and knelt reverently 
to the earth. The success of this mission paved the 
way for the establishment of others, till the whole 



454 THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 

coast was sprinkled with their churches, and every 
green glade filled with their wild converts and lowing 
herds. But the padres and their neophytes are gone, 
and all the memorials that remain are a cumbrous 
ruin. Gigantic skeletons of things that were ! 

THE RAILROAD TO CALIFORNIA. 

The facilities of social and commercial intercourse 
between our Atlantic and Pacific borders, yet to be 
created, present a problem of great practical import- 
ance. The present route, via Chagres and Panama, 
may be regarded as a necessity to be superseded as 
soon as practicable, by a railroad directly across the 
continent, within our own jurisdiction. Besides the 
formidable political objections to being dependent on 
foreign powers for a connection between our remo- 
test and most important commercial points, the dis- 
tance, via Chagres and Panama, or by any railroad 
or canal across the Isthmus yet to be made, in con- 
nection with the effects of a hot climate on animal 
and vegetable products, as subjects of trade between 
our Atlantic and Pacific coasts, present most insupera- 
ble obetacles to a permanent reliance on that route. 
It is now ascertained, that instead of thirty days be- 
tween New York and San Francisco, or forty days to 
the mouth of the Columbia river by steam, or three 
to six months by sailing craft, either of these points 
may be' reached in seven to eight days by railroad 
direct, avoiding altogether the deleterious eflfects of 
climate on articles of trade, as well as on health and 
life. These two considerations, so potent and over- 
ruling in commercial intercourse, will undoubtedly 
prove paramount to all antagonistic interests, and the 



THREE YEARS IN CALIFORNIA. 455 

railroad, directly across, may be regarded as already 
decided by the demands of trade between these re- 
mote parts of our present extended domain. 

But what shall be the plan, Mr. Whitney's or a 
government enterprise ? If the government under- 
take it, the chances are a thousand to one, that, like 
the Cumberland road, it will be broken down by 
party strifes. Neither of the two great parties of the 
country would, in any probability, risk the respon- 
sibility of taking it on its shoulders as a government 
work. Shall it, then, be done by a corporate com- 
pany, with an adequate loan of public credit, as has 
been proposed ? Besides other insuperable objections 
to a plan of this kind, of a party political character, 
it must be seen, that all transport on a road built on 
this plan, must pay a toll to satisfy the interest of the 
capital invested ; whereas, on the Whitney plan, no 
toll will be exacted, except to keep the road and its 
machinery in repair. This difference, in its opera- 
tion on trade and commerce, will be immense, suffi- 
cient, as any one may see, to decide the question at 
once and forever between the two plans. The com- 
pany proposed will have to borrow its capital, the 
interest of which must be provided for by tolls. ^Tj^is 
tax on trade and intercourse will necessarily prevent 
that grand movement of commercial exchanges be- 
tween the Atlantic and Pacific states, between 
the United States and Asia, and between Europe 
and Asia, which is the great object of the enterprise. 
But the Whitney plan does not borrow, but creates, 
by its ow^n progress, out of the increased value of the 
lands through which it passes, the capital required to 
build the road ; and thus dispensing with all tolls to 
pay for the use of capital, it will invite and secure 



456 THllEE YEARS IN CALIFOilMA. 

the passage on this Hne of the great bulk of commerce 
around the entke globe, and between the great 
masses of the industrial and producing portions of 
the human family, which, as will be seen, lie on one 
great belt of the earth, demanding precisely the di- 
rect and cheap channel of intercommunication here 
proposed, instead of the circuitous, long, and expen- 
sive routes of commerce heretofore used. 

Moreover, on the company plan, the increased 
value of the lands on the route, will all go to the 
corporation ; whereas, on the Whitney plan, it will 
go to the people of the United States, whose property 
it is, and to the benefit of that trade and commerce 
which it sets in motion. 

The Whitney plan, once executed, will merge in 
one the interests of our population on the Pacific 
slope of this continent and those of our population on 
the Atlantic slope, and by that means they will re- 
main one forever. But the failure of this enterprise, 
by the neglect of Congress to authorize it, would 
make the interests of these two vast regions forever 
independent of and opposed to each other. Such a 
dereliction of duty, so apparent, would ere long, as a 
n£|tuyiil if not necessary consequence, create an in- 
dependent nation on the Pacific. 



THE END. 



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